Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Album)

I don’t know what it is with me, but Josh Homme is one of the few men in rock who makes my knees go weak. I’m pretty certain that I’m not the only woman who is effected this way. Homme has always maintained that Queens of The Stone Age is a band for the ladies, and ladies, Homme wont disappoint you with the latest QOTSA offering Era Vulgaris.

The title Era Vulgaris is a fancy play on the word “Vulgaris”. For QOTSA, it’s part music for the masses (vulgaris, Latin word for masses), part critique of the vulgarity of current Western cultural climate – all those bucking, semi-naked bodies in the media, all that sucking up to the man, all that selling-out of who you are to make a few dollars or have your 15 minutes of fame. On 'I’m Designer' Homme’s disdain for our present cultural climate is not just lament, it’s about owning your place in the world and not selling your soul. “I’m one of a kind, I’m designer” he snarls at us, as a warning that we’re all designer and can make our own way in the world.

Gone is the wailing, frustration and anger of Lullaby’s to Paralyse, back a focussed and dedicated Queens doing all the things that make them so awesome. There’s the occasional nod to the stoner Californian 70s rock of Led Zeppelin on tracks like 'I’m Designer' and 'Turning the Screw' and the aggressive 'Battery Acid', which warms you up nicely for Homme’s full-sleaze stoner-rock crooning on 'Make It Wit Chu' (so many lava-lamp lit bedroom corners, so little time). But before you can get too comfortable you’ll be aggressively pierced post-punk style for '3s & 7s', and re-buttered and writhing for 'Run, Pig, Run' with a tambourine that sounds like the spurs of a steadily striding cowboy coming to hunt you down because you crossed his kin. Homme’s perfect falsetto is vicious and menacing, threatening retribution.

And then there’s that other thing that QOTSA do so well – that luxurious journey into the dark places of the mind to be all self-reflective and bitter, angry and self-effacing. This time round, however, tracks like “Suture Up Your Future” and “Into the Hollow” suggest the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel after a journey through the mind’s nether regions. Maybe it’s because Homme is a happily married father now? Then there’s my favourite track on the album, “River in the Road”, which evokes a march to battle against relationship and personal demons. I can just see Homme wielding his battle-axe across the desert; his subtle and intoxicating “oooohing” and “ahhhhhing” his war cry, come from a place deep inside designed to alleviate frustration and warn the monsters out to get him.

Of course, there is sex. The tracks 'Sick Sick Sick', 'Misfit Love' and 'Make It Wit Chu', whilst near-ridiculous in their over-the-topness, will make you squirm and grind and, well, feel special. When Homme sings about sex he continually proves his uber-masculinity; at once gentle and aggressive, dripping with desire and respect. Oooooh yeah, I know you’re a sick man Homme. Please call me to show me all the dirty tricks you croon about.

Sometimes the production values are a little muddy but are saved by the peeling of Castillo’s cymbals, reminding you to get your hands out of your pants and concentrate on the conscious world. You’ll feel drunk on the never-ending assault of multi-layered guitar riffs, rumbling bass and occasional piano tinkling in the background. The Australian edition of Era Vulgaris has two bonus tracks – 'Running Joke' and 'Era Vulgaris' – both of which round off the album more completely than where the official album is supposed to end ('Run, Pig, Run').

Era Vulgaris might take you a few listens to before you can fully appreciate it, mostly because there’s so much going on. Sometimes there’s too much going on, but with enough plays you’re sure to love it. It’s complicated and clever without being pretentious, which is exactly what Queens of the Stone Age are about. And if you let it, Era Vulgaris will make you want to grind your genitals rhythmically against a hard surface until you make it with yourself whilst Homme and the band make sweet aural love to your imagination. But that might be just me.

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