Queens of the
Stone Age
…Like Clockwork
This
is QOTSA’s best record for a
decade. Literally: it was terrifyingly
2003 when they released the mighty Songs
for the Deaf. …Like Clockwork is an amazing album from a band that had gone a
little stale for me with good but comparatively so-so offerings like Lullabies to Paralyze and Era Vulgaris. What makes it so great, aside from the simple
strength of the songs, is the willingness to experiment rather more: it’s not
awesome because it sounds like Rated R
or Songs for the Deaf, but precisely
because it doesn’t try to do so. This
record lessens the heavy and piles on the swagger. Confident and cool, this is hip-shakingly
great stuff. I think the introduction of
spacier elements, including a significantly increased use of keyboards, further
helps this stand alone as a fitting entry into their impressive back
catalogue. Listing favourite tracks is
hard, because there are so many, but the grinding ‘I Sat by the Ocean’, the
heavy reminder of Queens of old ‘My
God is the Sun’ and the garage rock glam of album-best ‘Smooth Sailing’ are
probably my favourites on a record of gems.
Finally, they’ve once again shown what they can really do.
Sample track: ‘Smooth Sailing’