Kyuss Lives!

Queens of the Stone Age used to have this amazing interactive graphic on their website back in the day. It was their family tree and showed how many amazing bands they were all part of. There were hundreds. But at the very top of it was this one little band named Kyuss.

They were the catalyst for it all. Featuring most of the member of QOTSA, they even released an EP entitled Queens of the Stone Age. If you scrutinize the above video, you can easily make out Josh Homme, but it's harder with Nick Oliveri, as he has a lot of hair unlike his more modern bald look. And he's wearing clothes for once.

The sound that Kyuss makes can best be described as stoner rock. And I love it. It reminds me of a mix of Monster Magnet and Ministry, with their sludgy and fast guitars and cleaner vocals.

Kyuss Lives! is the reformation of the band with almost all of the originals, except for one glaring omission, Josh Homme on guitar. But without him, it's still three-quarters of Kyuss playing Kyuss songs, I doubt much will change.

Get your old inner stoner rocker out on:
May 4, the Coolie
May 6, the Tivoli

Both shows 18+.

If you want to listen to their music, your best bet may actually be searching for them on You Tube. Which I've done for you.

Soundwave 2011

I'm back from holidays, and that leak I posted of the Soundwave festival has been confirmed! But no venue confirmation yet. For a recap, here it is:


As far as Soundwaves go, it's not as punk/hardcore as focused as all of the earlier festivals, but it is indeed an interesting mix. Bands I'm very excite for include

• Iron Maiden
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Slayer
• Primus (my favourite band)
• Slash
• Rob Zombie (part of the first concert I ever saw)
• Stone Sour (good boys from my old US home)
• Pennywise (not sure how they will be with a new lead singer)
• Gaslight Anthem (think a punk Bruce Springsteen)
• Sevendust (one of my favourite nu metal bands from way back)
• Less than Jake
• The Bronx (as mentioned earlier)
• Monster Magnet (90s grunge-stoner rock)
• Protest the Hero
• the Melvins
• Mad Caddies
• Trash Talk
• Foxy Shazam (keyboard led hardcore funk)
• Nonpoint (I used to drink to their first album in first year uni)

Ok, on second thoughts, it's a pretty good lineup for me. And for metal heads. Like most years, there will probably be no sideshows in Brisbane. However, I will travel wherever I have to go see Primus (hopefully with Foxy Shazam).

Mark Lanegan

Mark came to the limelight as being a member of Queens of the Stone Age when they took off in the early 2000s. But he's much more than that.

He was a founding member of the 90's Seattle grunge band Screaming Trees. He's also a solo musician that has collaborated with Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Isobel Campbell (Belle and Sebastian), Kurt Cobain, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Duff and Izzy (Guns n Roses), PJ Harvey, Dean Ween (Ween) and so many more. Currently he's also in the bands the Gutter Twins and the Twilight Singers.

Lanegan will be playing the Zoo solo on July 6 and you can be sure he will touch on all sorts of styles and songs from his unique musical history. A history covering many stylings that I can't even pick out what is a good starting point. So just start by listening to songs on his My Space.

(On a side note, I just now realized that he was that mysterious third singer for QOTSA the first time I saw them. They kept trading off between Nick Oliveri, Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. Unfortunately, the last time I saw them (and probably forever now) they only had Josh Homme.)