Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris (Interscope)
Release: June 12, 2007
Josh Homme and company, the cover artists of our jam-packed summer issue that will be released next week, returns with what just may be their most concise work to date. Era Vulgaris is chock full of fuzzy Queens riffs that combine just the right amount of melody and rock. To check out our six-page QOTSA feature, pick up ALARM #27 on June 19.
Queens of the Stone Age – “Sick, Sick, Sick”
O’Death
Head Home (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)
Release: June 12, 2007
This oft-melancholy alt-country outfit – with much more emphasis on country than alt-rock – fluctuates between frenetic and down-tempo paces while employing a heaping dose of fiddle, banjo, ukulele, and more. Head Home, a self-released album that Ernest Jenning Record Co. has now reissued, begins in fine fashion with the gang vocals and big sing-along chorus of “Down to Rest.”
Pelican
City of Echoes (Hydra Head)
Release: June 5, 2007
(This review, which can be read here in its entirety, will be in ALARM #27.)
Pelican’s third full-length release, City of Echoes (Hydra Head), finds the instrumental quartet once again blending atmospheric rock with a touch of doom. To call it metal is unfair, and frankly, doesn’t make sense for a band whose material is as likely to be delicate as dark. “Winds With the Hands,” an acoustic jaunt, showcases the band’s technical skill and classical influences, and the album’s title track is more reminiscent of ’90s-era college alt-rock than anything with a metallic aftertaste.
Pig Destroyer
Phantom Limb (Relapse)
Release: June 12, 2007
Phantom Limb, Pig Destroyer’s first album since 2004’s Terrifyer, is fourteen tracks of an unrelenting grind assault. The album’s artwork was done by John Baizley, whose colorful, thickly outlined style is reminiscent of Pushead (Brian Schroeder).
Queens of the Stone Age photo credit: Matt Field