Them Crooked Vultures was a hard rock supergroup formed in 2009 by Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) on drums, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass guitar and keyboards, and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on lead vocals and guitar. The band released one self-titled album in 2009, which was a critical and commercial success, reaching number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band disbanded in 2010, but they reunited briefly in 2022 with performances at both Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts.
The band’s music is a mix of hard rock, blues, and psychedelic influences. Their sound was often described as being heavy and powerful, with Grohl’s drumming, Jones’ bass playing, and Homme’s guitar work all being on full display. The band’s lyrics were often dark and introspective.
Their first single “New Fang” won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards. I will be featuring “New Fang” on my show today between 3pm & 7pm.
Another great song on the album, “Scumbag Blues,” is a playable track on the 2010 video games Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and Gran Turismo 5. “Dead End Friends” is playable in Rock Band 3 and featured in Skate 3.
Them Crooked Vultures
The group embarked on their “Deserve The Future” world tour in 2009 with dates running through 2010. It was on October 12, 2009 that Them Crooked Vultures played their one and only show in Philadelphia at the (former) Electric Factory. They performed their debut album in its entirety, no Foo Fighters songs, no Queens of the Stone Age songs, and certainly no Led Zeppelin songs. Though, you can hear a good bit of each band’s influence on each of the songs on the album.
Multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes was part of the touring band of Them Crooked Vultures, assisting on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. Johannes, best known for his work with Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell, PJ Harvey and others, is also a founding member of several bands including the alt-rock group Eleven. Eleven’s past members also included Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers/Pearl Jam) and Matt Cameron (Soundgarden/Pearl Jam).
Dave Grohl has said before in the past that Them Crooked Vultures is a once every decade or so band, with 2019 marking the 10th anniversary of the supergroup. Even though they did get together for a couple of brief performances at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Shows in 2022, we are long overdue for some new tunes from the Vultures. However, considering how crazy busy Dave Grohl is with the Foo Fighters, and John Homme with Queens of the Stone Age, I wouldn’t hold my breath unfortunately.
In the meantime, go listen to the one and ONLY album from a band that you most certainly should know – THEM CROOKED VULTURES!