Queens of the Stone Age : "In New Times Roman..."

 The opening track from the band's 8th album is tinged with the kind of weird it takes multiple listens to wrap your ears around. At casual listen all the key elements are in place , though perhaps due to the almost too pristine production, they sit weird together. Homme's vocals are in his normal cadence, but the highly compressed guitars have odd effects on them.  Though not a huge departure for the band, it perhaps does not rely on grooves as heavily as "Villains" .  The second song finds the band returning to more familiar sounds, with a straight ahead rock bounce back in their blood.  By the time we get to "Negative Space" it is clear their formula for writing songs has not changed, the difference lies in how all the instruments sound, and where they sit in the mix, along with the all the extra sounds haunting the edges of the songs. 

There are some grooves but they are under a thick narcotic haze. This becomes even more exaggerated on "Made to Parade" . Midway in it feels very much like what you expect from these guys even amid the big studio tricks woven around the songs. The first single "Carnavoyeur" breaks from the predominant mood of the album by going in a more early 60s garage pop direction. The atmosphere is thicker, and the casual croon of Homme shifting over the drugged dance of instrumentation behind him. On previous albums it had become apparent they were transitioning from a stoner rock band to a psychedelic band. It is more noted on this album than perhaps even before. When the rock n roll strut of  'What the Peephole Say" saunters around , you are still seeing trails around it. 

"Sicily" is the only moment where it feels the weird gets the better of their songwriting. "Emotion Sickness" is pretty straightforward, though still finds the colors from the 60s dripping from it as well as a slight Queen influence, though the herky-jerky stays at the forefront. The album ends with the nine-minute "Straight Jacket Fitting" it creeps along the normal dark alleys you expect these guys to stumble from. It is perhaps not catchy. I will round this down to a 9.5, for that reason, the melodies are not as hooky as previous albums, there are plenty of tripped-out jams to keep you entertained and they embrace many shades of weird.  

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