Them Crooked Vultures released Them Crooked Vultures in North America on November 17, 2009, through DGC/Interscope. Josh Homme handled vocals and guitar, Dave Grohl returned to the drums, and John Paul Jones played bass and keyboards. The musicians behind Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin made a 13-track debut together, with “New Fang” as its first single.
The connections between them were already taking shape before they entered the studio. Homme and Grohl had worked together on Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf in 2002, while Jones had contributed to Foo Fighters’ In Your Honor. Jones told The Skinny that Grohl approached him in England about coming to Los Angeles to play with Homme. A gathering at Grohl’s birthday party at Medieval Times put the three together socially before they began making music.
Once they started, writing and recording became the same job. Working at Homme’s studio, the trio developed ideas with the recording equipment running, a change from Jones’ usual experience of rehearsing songs before committing them to tape. In a 2009 Hot Press interview, he described a production arrangement that shifted with whoever was playing: the musician recording an overdub took direction from the others in the control room. “We’re three producers,” Jones said. He explained that their experience made it easier to accept advice and criticism. He also wanted the music to retain its groove, arguing that complex arrangements could still have swing.
That shared responsibility extended to deciding what belonged on the finished record. Jones described the songwriting to The Skinny as a collective process, with all three contributing to the music and melodies. Homme wrote the lyrics after the tracks had been recorded, an unfamiliar sequence that Jones said his bandmate found difficult. They also agreed that a song needed everyone’s enthusiasm to make the album.
Their trust mattered when an idea arrived in an unpromising form. Jones recalled to Bass Player in March 2010 that Homme’s starting point for “Reptiles” was a hotel-room recording made on an unplugged electric guitar. Jones and Grohl initially struggled to hear what Homme had in mind, but he persuaded them to try it. The finished song grew out of that unlikely demonstration. “New Fang” was among the early ideas they worked on as they began jamming together.
Jones was also changing how his bass fitted into the arrangements. Much of the distortion on the record came from running it through Homme’s guitar amplifiers. His initial sound had been too clean against the guitars, he explained, so the rougher tone helped the instruments work together. He also found himself using a pick more, particularly with his multi-string basses, giving the notes a quicker attack. The collaboration reached into the details of how each player approached his instrument.
By the time the band began playing shows, the recording was largely complete. Jones said mixing and mastering continued while they were on the road. In 2011, “New Fang” won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
