He’s Trippin’
Josh Homme plots his most magical mystery tour yet
Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris ½
ITUNES MYSPACE

Era Vulgaris represents Queens of the Stone Age’s most hallucinatory album since 2000’s Rated R. And no narcotic assistance is required, since it legitimately recreates what music sounds like when you’re high: The drums are distant and scratchy, the vocals are simultaneously sweet and dangerous, and every guitar riff sounds like “Sweet Home Alabama.” Which is to say that it sounds awesome.

Finally cutting back on the number of friends doing guest spots (only Julian Casablancas and QOTSA regular Mark Lanegan make cameos), Era Vulgaris is the first Queens album that places a significant focus on Homme’s lyrics, which are equal parts stoned philosophy

and backhanded bon mots—he’s a meathead, sure, but he’s got a little Dorothy Parker in him. “You made me an offer that I can’t refuse / ’Course, either way, I get screwed,” he sings on “I’m Designer.” “Counterproposal: I go home and jerk off.”

Homme has spent his career turning
the normal trappings of hard rock
Homme’s lyrics are equal
parts stoned philosophy
and backhanded bon mots.

sideways, and here he amps up the swirling psychedelia, notably on the shaky “River in the Road” and the swinging, bipolar “ 3’s & 7’s.” There are even some kinky grooves, highlighted by the horny Southern funk of “Make It Wit’ Chu.” Bob Dylan once declared, “Everybody must get stoned”; Queens of the Stone Age take that advice very seriously. KYLE ANDERSON

The Polyphonic Spree The Fragile Army ½ ITUNES MYSPACE Shedding their eternal robes, refining their sunshine sound Rare is the 24-piece symphonic rock collective that takes criticism constructively, but singer/ songwriter Tim DeLaughter and his Dallas-based crew seem to have done exactly that. The Fragile Army trades the cluttered arrangements and too-long instrumental passages of their first two albums for tightly focused orchestral pop with big Technicolor hooks. Even better, the band tests the limits of its quasi-religious, happy-all-the-time ethos with songs that surprisingly explore the range of human emotion—if you listen closely, you might actually hear a minor chord. LANE BROWN

house, Robbie Williams, and other Anglos cover Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay, and the Smiths over the blaring horns and organic beats of New York’s funky retro-soul house band the Dap-Kings. Sharp arranging skills and suitably angular performances transform what easily could’ve been a corny, cluttered mess into a stylishly sweaty summer party. BARRY WALTERS

Savath & Savalas Golden Pollen ITUNES MYSPACE Glitchy beatmaker creates grand backdrop for his voice Formerly a collaborative project with vocalist Eva Puyuelo, Savath & Savalas is now another solo pseudonym for Guillermo Scott Herren. Golden Pollen has some of the laptop hip-hop fritz associated with his usual alias, Prefuse 73, but here it’s tucked away inside ornate arrangements: low-key woodwinds, delicate guitar and piano, and Herren’s plain-sung Spanish vocals. It all intertwines into a whole that’s lush, slo-mo, and mildly psychedelic. The album has its dull moments—lovely as some of the vocal melodies are, Herren’s strength is as an orchestrator. Still, fellow traveler RJD2 could stand to take notes. MICHAELANGELO MATOS

in this week’s NME). But the sounds this San Francisco quintet mine weren’t necessarily original to begin with, so huge hooks and playful pleasures win the day: Boopy ’80s keyboards propel the winning “Ghetto Ways”; clipped, cooler-than-thou vocals evoke the Rapture on “Nickels and Dimes”; and “Wandering Arms” moves with a sexy slink. So cheerily unpretentious, it’s almost irresistible. JOSH MODELL

Socalled Ghettoblaster ½ ITUNES MYSPACE Ingenious cross-cultural mash-up, featuring Tevye The second album from Montreal rapper/producer Josh “ Socalled” Dolgin may be the most unusual hip-hop album of the year. A trippy exploration of Jewish identity, it teems with collaborators, from indie MC C-Rayz Walz to Fiddler on the

 

Mark Ronson Version ITUNES MYSPACE Son of a socialite hosts a time-traveling soul session

Forging a streetwise musical identity out of his tony transatlantic lineage, this London-born, Manhattan-based DJ/ producer unites two antithetical worlds—recent and classic Britpop with vintage American R&B. Lily Allen, Amy Wine-

Rooney Calling the World ITUNES MYSPACE Aspiring heartthrobs dumb down instead of growing up

Rooney’s giddy, The OC– approved 2003 debut offered a few real power-pop gems mixed with too much half-baked filler. And this time around, when he should be developing into a stronger, more mature songwriter, frontman Robert Schwartzman relies on numbing production overkill—massive vocal and guitar overdubs, cheesy synths, heavy echo— to disguise his saccharine romantic tales. Still, the strategy does work on the album’s most extravagant track: With its Queen-like flourishes, the breathtaking rhapsody “I Should Have Been After You” raises hopes that Schwartzman may eventually refocus his talents. JON YOUNG

Scissors for Lefty Underhanded Romance ITUNES MYSPACE Eager rock magpies come bearing bright, catchy gifts

Scissors for Lefty don’t disguise their influences—listen a minute, and you’ll think of a dozen bands they sound like (for clarity’s sake: Pulp, the Killers, the Walkmen, Hot Hot Heat, and virtually every group

Scissors for
Lefty: Let’s play
pop charades!

FROM TOP: MICHAEL EVANE T; JASON ODELL/COUR TES Y EENIE MEENIE RECORDS