Review: Queens Of The Stone Age – ‘Perfecth’ – A Mellower Stylistic Left Turn – Will Die Hards Like It?

“I’m so broken…” – QOTSA, “Insignificant Other”

Queens Of The Stone Age have returned with a new album, the follow up to 2023’s In New Times Roman, entitled Perfecth. It had been six years prior to In New Times Roman that they released Villains (2017) so three years is pretty quick for these guys. I’ll take all the new Queens I can get!

This new album finds the QOTSA exploring a new, stripped down, and in some cases mellower sound than what we’d usually expect from them –  guitar and drums, sturm und drang. I can’t help but wonder if the die hard rocker fans who love these guys will be able to make the stylistic leap with them?

I, for one, absolutely love this record. But then I like when a band takes a risk and a stylistic leap. When U2 abandoned their early punk-ish sound of say Boy or War, and hired Eno for The Unforgettable Fire, I was worried but I took that creative leap and bought the record… and I’m glad I stuck with them. Expectations can ruin an experience so come to this album with an open mind and open ears.

The QOTSA lineup seems to have – dare I say – crystallized after years of a shifting lineup with original member Josh Homme (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Michael Shuman (bass), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitars), Dean Fertita (keyboards), and Jon Theodore (drums). This lineup has been together for quite a while now.

I’m beginning to think of Josh Homme the way I think of Jack White, that he’s one of the “great men of rock n roll.” I stole that from Thomas Carlyle, who posited the “great men of history” theory which argues that history is shaped by highly influential individuals with unique natural attributes. If history can have great men, why not rock n roll? But I’m off topic.

Homme is the most natural American crooner we’ve had since Jim Morrison died (if he died?). I love the songs he’s crafted with the band for this album. I admitted to loving this record earlier, and one of the reasons is the album plays as a breakup LP. What can I say, you can take the boy out of the breakups but you can’t take the breakups out of the boy where I’m concerned. It’s odd that he’d go full in on heartbreak now – his tumultuous divorce was finalized in 2022 before In New Times Roman. 

Whatever the motivation for the lyrical content, he’s really played with the QOTSA sound on this record. The album was preceded by the first single “Easy Street,” and I was surprised to get a ballad from these guys. It’s a great, great song. Nikki Lane who I now remember seeing at Middle Of The Map-Fest does a superb harmony vocal. But again, it was a break up ballad?

I started Perfecth and immediately I knew this was going to be a more experimental record. I mean, I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of QOTSA – I got on the bandwagon for …Like Clockwork (2013) and yes I was late, but it drove me back into their catalog for Songs For The Deaf (2002) and Rated R (2000) – and I don’t remember many ballads in that catalog.

The first track on the new album, “It’s Only Love” sets the tone. It’s atmospheric with sound effects, emotive violin, and occasional crashing cymbals. It’s like the intro to a horror movie or maybe just a musical entrance into Homme’s mental state. “It’s only love, the greasy rope I’m hanging on…” Oh, yes, Josh is singing about heartbreak and I’m here for it. Even with all that going on it’s a pretty quiet song.

There are other quieter songs like “Mono” which speaks of ghosts, love lost and madness. It’s also heavy on the atmospheric sound. It feels like Homme’s emotion laid bare albeit in a spare setting. “I swear I love you but not anymore, not anymore, no, than the first day I saw you…” Those lyrics just grab me.

“From The Cliff” is an acoustic, breezy strummer of a song… well, with sad lyrics. He seems to be looking at an old picture and reminiscing in the song. It’s a great tune and could have been a single…

Speaking of singles, beyond “Easy Street” I really like “Insignificant Other.” It’s probably my favorite track here. It’s almost funky, and definitely has a sweet groove. They use keyboards to great effect here.

“Phantom Limb,” an acoustic/electric mix of a track which compares a former lover to the proverbial “phantom limb,” is another stunner. “My phantom limb, I love you so…” On the fade out he turns the old Talking Heads lyric on it’s head, repeating “Same as it never was…”

There are so many great songs on this record. “Where The Goth Girls At?” is a track that lost the Rock Chick… marriage is a compromise… but I think its funny. It’s all fuzzy guitar and admiration for the titular gals. Homme’s falsetto gives us the lyric “I never felt so alive than the day I almost died.”

“Sunday” – the day I hated when I was single and alone – is another great song. It’s got more of what you’d expect from QOTSA, guitars that eventually gallop and driving drums. Homme’s singing sounds like mid-period Bowie which shouldn’t surprise me, as Iggy Pop helped write the song. It’s well worth seeking this one out.

“Run Away From The Mob,” which features Dave Grohl on drums, breaks the heartbreak theme and seems to be more of a “state of the union” about the situation the world finds itself in these days. I’m reminded of the Dio lyric, “When you listen to fools, the mob rules.”

This is another great album by a great band. This is going to be a bit of a different listen for the hard rock fans out there who have been following the Queens longer than I have. But with great creative risk, often comes great reward. I’ll be turning up my vinyl copy to “11.” It may be more stripped down but we can still crank it up, folks.

Enjoy this one! Cheers!