Supergroup alert! I was thinking if it was just my imagination or are there a lot of these around these days, so I went over to the Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit and scrolled way down from the days of Cream and Blind Faith down to the last few years. Sad to say I must be getting old because most of the groups I saw were all composed of groups I had never heard of. 2009 was a fairly beserk year for disparate musicians getting together to make music, and TCV's multi-generational approach deserves special mention.
It's not too hard to get Josh Homme and Dave Grohl to record together. After idly mentioning he liked Queens of the Stone Age, Grohl suddenly found himself behind the drumkit for that band's Songs for the Deaf. Just last year he subbed in for their most recent album following a little drummer-drama. Overall, this album feels more like a natural sequel to Songs for the Deaf which for me is a good thing; Grohl turns Homme into a wacked-out riff bashing machine anytime the two get together, something that feels a bit lacking on other QOTSA albums. Where TCV gets strange is when you throw John Paul Jones into the mix on bass and keyboards. It's not an obvious feeling, as JPJ isn't really known for any crazy-bass antics. In fact he's more noticed when there are some keyboard bits, like the funky clavinet (a la "Trampled Under Foot") on "Scumbag Blues". So in the end I can't officially say that JPJ was indispensable in the birthing of the album, but it's pretty cool that he's there. I mean, the guy is living history.
Considering the stupid-short lifespan of the average supergroup, I'm not sure if there's going to be anymore TCV albums, considering the very active recording careers of the two younger members. The marketing of this album wasn't particularly good, and I don't think I would have been aware of this if an astute former colleague of mine hadn't brought it to my attention.
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