One of the strangest memories I can recall with absolute photographic clarity occurred during an eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. Sitting quietly in my seat aboard the bus as it cruised through downtown, a jewel case was suddenly thrust in front of my face. “Trade you for The Vines or somethin’,” someone muttered from the seat behind me. Captivated by the sinister red and black cover art, I passed back a CD of mine to trade for a while. Clicking open the case, I set Songs for the Deaf into my CD player for the first time. I still remember having a difficult time hearing our tour guides when I was forced to take off my headphones and listen to them talk about historical monuments because my ears were ringing so badly.In the years since, Queens of the Stone Age has squeezed itself through the filters of their subsequent records. Detuning their epic 16-bar single-chord behemoths into twisted melancholy melodies, Lullabies to Paralyze exposed a much darker side of the group’s mentality while adhering to their branded “stoner-rock” vibe. Era Vulgaris pushed these experimentations even further into the realm of playful deconstruction with songs like “I’m Designer” and “Run, Pig, Run” standing out as some of the group’s most left field conceptions to date.
After being in my iPod for a few weeks now, …Like Clockwork has had one of the strangest effects on my taste I’ve ever experienced from a new record. Before its release, the marketing strategy of giving away about half of the album in snippets and chunks came across as somewhat gimmicky to me. When the album finally dropped, it didn’t feel like an album — more like a playlist with new songs stuck into it. But unlike other albums that are categorically “inaccessible,” my opinion made a 180 after just a few more listens. I started to feel the QOTSA record formula emerge just as it does on the other albums. “Smooth Sailing,” for instance, is …Like Clockwork‘s “Turnin’ on the Screw,” while “If I Had a Tail” is the feel-good “dance number” each record seems to showcase in its own vein.
With tons of collaborations taking hold of the music world in general, this record is a great example of a tasteful degree of outside input. The musical talent of each artist is showcased without drawing an unnecessary amount of attention to its presence. Sir Elton John doesn’t get his own ballad, Trent Reznor left his out of tune bells and modular synths at home, and Jake Sheers doesn’t strut his stuff on a disco song. They all fit into their roles as pieces of the whole rather than stretching the Queens sound to fit around their egos.
…Like Clockwork is a great synthesis of old and new as well. Songs like “Kalopsia” and “I Appear Missing” could very well have worked on Lullabies to Paralyze while “I Sat by the Ocean” and “My God is the Sun” harken back to the golden oldies of their first two releases. The more of a chance it’s given, the more it gives back. Songs I initially gawked at, like the title track, have quickly become some of my favorite Queens songs to date.
...Like Clockwork