siLLy puPPy After leaving Sky Valley, the members of Kyuss never looked back. As the circus left town, members dissipated and created new alliances. Former Kyuss vocalist John Garcia went on to front Slo Burn, Unida, Hermano and beyond and bassist Scott Reeder would continue his early 90s The Obsessed leanings but it would be singer, songwriter and guitarist Josh Homme together with drummer Alfedo Hernández who would carry on together from Kyuss with success in their newly formed QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE three years after the very last Kyuss album.

This newly found band stepped out of the stoner doom metal sound and more into the alternative hard rock arena. In fact this debut sounds like a perfect intermediate between Soundgarden and The Stone Temple Pilots with just enough idiosyncratic touches to give the listener a nice fresh perspective of the bass leaning crunchy oriented guitar riffs that the band themselves described as “robot rock” which refers to the repetitive riffing nature of the song structures, but like carbon-based chains in organic chemistry it proves to be an effectively addictive feature that allows the songs to unfold at a leisurely pace while maintaining a nice hard rock energy.

Despite latching onto the burgeoning alternative hard rock trend of the 90s, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE manages to find the perfect balance between grasping the en vogue grunge style while still throwing in a unique twist of the times. One of the things that makes this band stand out against the competition is the exquisitely performed percussive duties of Hernández that accompany in unison the heavy grungy riffs of Josh Homme. While at times the band can veer a tad too far into Soundgarden material, they always retain a distant enough approach to keep you from feeling like they aren’t just a mere clone and in the instrumental department far exceed the backings of Chris Cornell and company. While the overall song structures may not be quite as addictive as the best of the day, the delivery more than makes up for any shortcomings. I wouldn’t call this their very best but still a really addictive debut album that delivers some serious hooky and addictive tracks.

siLLy puPPy Very groovin and well-produced album by former Kyuss mainman Josh Homme and company. This album starts out strong with big beefy bassy riffs and never lets up until the end. Radio announcements introduce and come up between the tracks by faux stations to give the album a road-trip feel as if you are driving through the long distances of the deserts of Southern California, where these guys originate.

“No One Knows” was the big hit, but to be honest I find most of the songs on here to be of the same caliber with beefy guitar laden hooks that are catchy as hell. The last track is something completely different altogether which is acoustic guitar with accordion, horns and strings. There is also a wealth of guest musicians helping out including Dean Ween. A very grungy and groovy hard rock album (not surprising since Dave Grohl is on drums here) with moments where I hear Soundgarden and Alice In Chains influence. Not really groundbreaking but definitely an enjoyable ride.