Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman…
(Matador)
Reviewed by Bridget Herlihy.
Whether you love them or not, there is no denying that Queen of the Stone Age have a pedigree within the realm of rock music that is hard to beat. Over the last 25 years the Queen have produced seven albums, each record possessing its own sound and attitude while managing to remain faithful to beloved the archetypal Queens ‘je ne sais quoi’. This is a band who never rest on their laurels, their music demanding that the listener sit up and take notice. One need only look at their exemplary back catalogue to find a wonderfully eclectic collection of timeless rock anthems, Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, No One Knows, Little Sister, Go With The Flow, Make It Wit Chu, Smooth Sailing, The Way You Used To Do… and the proverbial list goes on.
There is no shadow of a doubt that Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore are a sonic tour de force to be reckoned with. But perhaps most importantly, they reignite a fire of excitement in, and for, rock music. Over the last quarter of a century the Queens have evolved from a desert stoner-rock outfit to one of the world’s most adored bands. With In Times New Roman… that evolution continues.
Suffice to say there has been a fair amount of hype in the build-up to the release of Queens’ eighth studio album, undoubtedly whetting the ferocious appetites of a legion of fans. It has been almost six years since their last LP Villains dropped, but as the old saying goes, good things take time. Yet the question that never seems to be too far from mind for many is whether or not any new Queens of the Stone Age album will contain bonafide rock anthems. The album’s title, a play on words, is indicative of the approach that the Queens have taken with their new album; an amalgamation of something old and something new. As the first three tracks from the album dropped, it became apparent that the double-entendres are the theme du jour. But does In Times New Roman… live up to the hype?
There is an energy and urgency to the Queens that is hard to beat, and that energy permeates on a majority of the album’s ten tracks, and yes, their distinctive fuzz-heavy guitar-based rock remains firmly intact. Opening track Obscenery kicks things off with a riff-heavy foot-stomper that is overflowing with that trademark swagger (“Hurrah, let’s do this” indeed!), followed up with Paper Machete, which is somewhat reminiscent of the aforementioned Little Sister, albeit a fraction slower, but equally catchy.
Carnavoyeur slows down the tempo, at times feeling like a subtle nod to ‘70s era psychedelic rock with soaring guitar licks, throbbing bassline and eerie synths intertwined to great effect, leaving the listener with the sense of being smack bang in the middle of the band performing.
Emotion Sickness, the lead single from the album opens with Josh Homme opening a door and humming to himself as he walks into the studio, seamlessly segueing into the opening bars of the song as his hum morphs into lyrics. Another solid toe-tapper groove with chorus that has Homme pulling out his best falsetto. What The Peephole say offers up another serving of garage sludge rock, once again with that alluring swagger. Closing track Straight Jacket Fits is a nine minute sprawling track that is both intriguing in terms of its development and choice as the final track for the album.
Whereas the Mark Ronson produced Villains was more groove-heavy, legendary producer Rick Rubin is at the helm of In Times New Roman…, which sees the band shift towards a more raw sound. Lyrically the album explores some dark territory, including depression, death, suicide, and the journey towards oblivion, perhaps in part influenced by the pandemic (or Homme’s own life and the losses he has endured over the last several years). Whatever the inspiration behind the lyrics, they pique the listener’s curiosity with an element of intrigue.
In Times New Roman… could be considered a bit of a mixed bag, or a mingling of the old and the new. What is apparent from beginning to end, however, is that the Queens of the Stone Age have not lost one iota of their power. This album is arguably the most personal that the band has written to date; one that Homme admits has a greater depth of vulnerability and is about walking into greater depths of darkness. There are moments of levity punctuated with periods of rawness and brutal honesty. Ultimately, this is a very worthy addition to the Queens’ cannon.
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