Welcome back to the WEEK OF SINGLES 2! We’re looking at rare singles all week.
Monday: Dream Theater – “Lie” (CD single)
Tuesday: Jimi Hendrix – “Valleys of Neptune” (7″ single)
THEM CROOKED VULTURES – “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” (10″ single)
I love unique looking items and this sure qualifies. Enveloped in a transparent red sleeve is a 10″ picture disc; this is something to behold. It looks great and you’ll want to put it in some kind of protective sleeve right away to keep it pristine, which is what I did.
The A-side contains the album version of “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” and a live cut of an unreleased song called “Hwy 1”. This live track was recorded in January in Sydney, Australia. It’s an awesome tune, punctuated by some seriously dexterous playing from John Paul Jones. Those who have heard his solo album Zooma know exactly what I’m talking about. I really liked this song a lot, it gets into a great groove, locking in with Dave and Josh, and a melody that makes it a real standout. If it had been on the album it would have been one of the choicest cuts.
“Mind Eraser, No Chaser” itself was one of the better album tracks as well, making this side a great listen. It’s a pretty succinct track that could be easily mistaken for a Queens of the Stone Age song. No matter that John Paul Jones is 1/3 of the band, Them Crooked Vultures simply resembles QOTSA more than they don’t.
The B-side is an 11-minute interview conducted by film director Liam Lynch (Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny). It’s actually quite a good interview, with all three members of the band. Both Dave Grohl and Josh Homme went into the album without having played their “main” instruments in a long time (drums and guitar respectively). John Paul expresses his disappointment that many metal bands are simply parodies of the genre; but that the Vultures are certainly not. My favourite quote is Dave Grohl’s:
“I’m never nervous about hitting ‘record’, and I’m never worried that, ‘hmmm, I hope I come up with a riff’. ‘Cause riffs…I don’t have a problem coming up with riffs. It’s songs that are important. I even said that to Josh after the first we time we jammed. I said, ‘You know, you and I could fill the Grand Canyon with riffs. But we need to write some songs’. That’s the hard part. And that’s where John comes in handy ’cause he’s the genius composer/arranger.”
This was an April 17 2010 Record Store Day exclusive, but even today you can find them all over the place. Don’t pay more than you need to, because you don’t need to.
5/5 stars
They’re not a band I have much interest in but that is an absolutely beautiful looking record!
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It certainly is, and the B-side alone was worth the money.
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I think I may have heard that somehow… and it’s still the only TCV song I’ve ever heard!
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I probably sent it as an RotD a long time ago, I reckon!
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Yup. I reckon.
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You reckon, pard’ner? Yeehaw!
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I could never get into them, but this is a nice object.
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That’s what she said.
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Wait, what?
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This is very lovely. I only have the one album of theirs here (and you gave it to me), so I’m glad they can make cool stuff like this for the pwople playing the home game more seriously than I do… Sweet single!
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Yeah they only have the one album. I gave it to you?
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Nope, I was wrong. You gave me the first QotSA. Also awesome.
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I remember that. I bought the reissue at Sunrise.
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The last two tracks on the album have huge John Paul Jones influence – I reckon these could have been tracks JPJ had been saving for a Led Zeppelin record. I love Them Crooked Vultures and think they are better than they are given credit for. Nice record too. *searches eBay*
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Let me know if you find it. I imagine it’s just cost that’s the issue.
I hope they do make a second LP.
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On Discogs there’s a load of them for about £15. I’ll leave it…
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Seriously? Add in shipping too — no thanks! I bet you can find it locally.
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