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Queens Of The Stone Age
by Mike Gee

Welcome to Era Vulgaris – the common era; and the multiplicity of meanings that title may hold or catalyse. There is no complete definition of what Queens Of the Stone Age founder and guitarist Josh Homme means by it although he has said it's "dark, hard, and electrical, sort of like a construction worker". Even his bandmates have a seemingly open-ended approach to it. Rather like the record itself, easily the best QOTSA album in a while. The term "pagan psychedelia" has been used and it fits splendidly.

Drummer Joey Castillo said it's fitting because "the times they are a changing. People are just starting to realise that and get in touch with important stuff like global warming and the fact that it's rather crazy out there. As Americans, we're overdue for a change. Speaking for myself, in the past decade we've seen some of the worst choices made by Americans in a long time. That has a lot to do with the title of the record, as well. People have very personal and different agendas and it makes it all a little crazy."

Fractured and splintered. "Right. That's why I do what I do to make somebody out there happy and able to step away from the insanity of everyday life."

Insanity isn't a harsh word. He mentions the recent terrible Virginia Tech slaying; I mention the two Australian girls who calmly killed their friend.

"Exactly, exactly, it's that kind of time. These young kids speaking so freely and openly about killing a friend and having no remorse or regret or understanding about what they've done. It's frightening and just as hard for the rest of us to understand why such things happen.

"I guess I'm speaking like an old man now but when I was 18 all I was worried about was when and where the next party was and whether I was going to get laid. There's nothing wrong with kids questioning things but to take such drastic action on other human beings with no conscience or respect or remorse... you have to question where it begins. It happens too young and too often."

What doesn't happen often enough is bands standing up and trying to give their fans some signals, some directions, something to follow. Mob mentality tends to rule as fear. Castillo isn't immune to that and says he does worry about the huge mobs that surround this decade-old outfit when it hits the road.

"We are around and surrounded by so many people so often," he says. "And I hope we never have to come cross anybody as crazy as the kind of people we've been talking about. It is very scary sometimes to be mobbed by fans and all you see is tonnes of faces and it does cross my mind 'what if somebody did want to get at me... Then there's the festivals. You can't help but think the kids are supposed to be at a place where they are safe but you just don't know. You just don't know."

That situation isn't likely to change anytime soon. Homme is becoming a modern-day legend of sorts, and that's not too far removed from the mark. His work across QOTSA, Screaming Trees, Foo Fighters, Eagles Of Death Metal, Mondo Generator, Masters Of Reality, Millionaire, Wellwater Conspiracy, U.N.K.L.E, and with PJ Harvey, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Mark Lanegan and Paz Lenchantin, speaks for itself. From such a broad spectrum comes a diverse, but huge, following.

Era Vulgaris, QOTSA's fifth album, will add even more followers; tighter, leaner and even more splendidly imaginative than its predecessors, including the much vaunted Lullabies To Paralyze and Songs For the Deaf, it's liable to draw even more fans to court of QOTSA.

What strikes strongest about Era Vulgaris are the melodies; wherever the music turns, the melodies here are as good as any QOTSA has ever penned. The music may often be quite muscular – although to these ears certainly not overwhelmingly so – and it is quite eclectic but the melodies hold everything together.

"We took a different approach to making this album," Castillo says. "We wrote while we were in the studio and then recorded. It was a little bit strenuous and heading into unknown territory but the result? I have to say I love it; I absolutely love it. And this is exciting now – doing interviews. To have the luxury of other people hearing it and telling us what they think is even better because, so far, the comments have been nothing but great. We decided early on that we weren't going to play anybody anything until we finished so the people we are talking to now are really the first people to have heard it and been able to tell us what they think."

For Castillo, it's also second-time around with guitarist Troy van Leeuwen and Homme after they debuted as the core of the band on Lullabies. And he's learnt. "A lot," he says. "In particular, I've learnt what not to brings to a Queens party and how to approach things. I think on this one though we all knew where our parts were. Josh is the leader and now I understand where things are supposed to go. I know what he does and doesn't like and he'll go with things that I develop. There's that kind of an understanding in everything we all do together."

And, on the utterly splendid River In The Road, there is the genuinely great Mark Lanegan on lead vocals once more. The former QOTSA member, Screaming Trees vocalist and singer/songwriter of the highest order, sounds like he belongs – pity there isn't more of him. "Mark... he's a special guy. I miss him dearly. I spoke to him a couple of says ago and he's doing well. I hope we can do something else together soon. There's nobody else like him. He's a great talent."

So there you have it. Era Vulgaris is upon us and unlike its inspiration, it's an era worth investing in. The stone age never sounded better.

Era Vulgaris is released this Saturday June 9 through Universal.