Nobody Loves Them And Neither Do I

The Oxford dictionary definition of a supergroup goes something like this: 'A group of musicians who found fame and relative success within seperate bands unite to write material of a dismal quality in new act. Media attention sustains the group for debut album toruing cycle before various members come to their senses and flee back to what they were good at in the first place.'

It's a textbook formula that applies regardless of the talent of the individual parts. Enter Them Crooked Vultures, a new three piece featuring Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) who performed their first show together at Metro Chicago in Illinois on Sunday August 9, 2009. Not a bad line up on paper but in practice I'd brace yourself for a crushing disappointment.

I'll admit there are a few exceptions Cream, The Good The Bad and The Queen and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young but the rest hardly set a sterling example. Velvet Revolver (GNR re-hashed), The Highwaymen (like Live at Folsom never happened) and Angel & Airwaves (Blink 182 + U2 = identity crisis).

Perhaps the best we can hope for from this new collective that certainly seem to reassert the 'super' in supergroup, rather than the usual 'drummer from Milburn, bassist from Little Man Tate', is one decent single. Even Jack White's 3rd blues infused band the Dead Weather just about made that benchmark when their debut was released earlier this year.