B+ Queens of the Stone Age
Villains
Matador
Since his last album as Queens of the Stone Age, 2013's ... Like Clockwork, singer-guitarist Joshua Homme watched as his other band -- Eagles of Death Metal -- lived through Paris' Bataclan attacks (the band played without him that night) and collaborated with Iggy Pop for the proto-punk's Post Pop Depression record and tour. Such circumstances didn't make Homme a hero, yet somehow they changed the chug, swagger and stammer of Queens' stoner-rock eclat into something shinier and sonically heroic on Villains.
Produced with Mark Ronson -- the glossy soul man behind Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars -- the emotionally bruised "Villains of Circumstance," the swinging, sensual "The Way You Used to Do," and the cuttingly existentialist "Hideaway" benefit from the hit-maker's crisp crackle. But, make no mistake, this isn't pop Homme. He never needed help conjuring contagious, melodramatic Bowie-meets-Bacharach melodies revved to 100 mph metal heights. What Ronson did was add a dash of honey and a hint of glitter to Homme's whiskeyed rock-outs and stories of ire, anarchy, age and villains.
By the time Homme & Co. (and this is his best set of Queens yet since its 1996 start) get to the lemon-squeezing bluesy "The Evil Has Landed," this team makes all of the world's scariest monsters seem tame in comparison to Homme's inner demons.
Hot tracks: "Villains of Circumstance," "Hideaway," "The Evil Has Landed"
-- A.D. AMOROSI,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
B+ The Sherman Holmes Project
The Richmond Sessions
M.C. Records
The Richmond Sessions is the debut album by Sherman Holmes, but the 77-year-old singer and bassist is no neophyte.
The Holmes Brothers were one of the all-time great American bands, alternating between gospel, R&B, soul and blues while reimagining tunes from Tom Waits, The O'Jays, and even Cheap Trick and Bob Marley as radically and triumphantly as Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help From My Friends."
But drummer Popsy Dixon and guitarist Wendell Holmes died in 2015. As a solo act, Sherman Holmes, who backed legends like John Lee Hooker before the trio formed in 1979, returns to his family and band's Virginia roots.
Stirring harmonies were a Holmes Brothers trademark and they lay a granite foundation for Holmes on a pair of fellow Virginian Ralph Stanley's bluegrass classics -- "I've Just Seen the Rock of Ages" and "White Dove" -- as well as Ben Harper's "Homeless Child," also covered by the trio in 2001.
Other great tracks include a dobro-in-the-swamp take on Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Green River," Vince Gill's "Liza Jane" and the old spiritual "I Want Jesus to Walk With Me."
Holmes Brothers producer Joan Osborne is Sherman's cheating partner on "The Dark End of the Street" and Sherman stays on theme with Ann Peebles' "I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home."
The Richmond Sessions is Sherman's Southern-style, stirring Irish wake for departed brother Wendell and bandmate Popsy.
Hot tracks: "I've Just Seen the Rock of Ages," "Green River," "The Dark End of the Street"
-- PABLO GORONDI,
The Associated Press
B Jade Jackson
Gilded
Anti-
"Wish I could turn salt to sugar/In the tears that are flooding my face/Then maybe the reason behind you leavin'/Wouldn't have such a bitter taste," Jade Jackson sings on "Salt to Sugar," one of the many striking numbers on her debut.
That kind of blunt emotional honesty and simple but vivid writing runs throughout Gilded, which reveals a young artist from small-town California who seems wise beyond her years. She already knows that actions have indelible consequences, but if she sometimes expresses regrets, she also possesses a tough-minded independence and more than a touch of youthful attitude: "Boy, it's been fun, but my motorcycle only seats one," she declares in a kiss-off on "Motorcycle."
Jackson's husky voice and the album's country-inflected rock add to the allure. Jackson says producer Mike Ness of Southern Cal punk veterans Social Distortion instructed her to listen to nothing but Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road before recording. Whatever lessons she absorbed from that masterwork she used to create a Golden State-hued Americana voice all her own.
Hot tracks: "Salt to Sugar," "Motorcycle"
-- NICK CRISTIANO,
Philadelphia Daily News
B George Thorogood
Party of One
Rounder
This album of solo, primarily acoustic blues has been a long time coming. All of George Thorogood's 16 LPs since his 1977 debut have been with some version of his band, the Destroyers. Thorogood, now 67, returns to his roots, although he never strayed too far: His brand of hard-rocking, party-hearty blues has always been an homage to icons such as John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Hank Williams. Those are among the artists he covers here, along with songs by Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan.
It's a showcase for his growling vocals and, especially, his deeply felt guitar playing, whether he's rocking an electric guitar on "Got to Move" or digging into an acoustic with a slide on "The Sky Is Crying," both Elmore James compositions. The selections aren't very surprising, and there's even a stark version of one of his early signature songs, Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer." But after four decades of amped-up recordings, it's rewarding to hear Thorogood toned down and relaxed.
Hot tracks: "Got to Move," "The Sky Is Crying," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"
-- STEVE KLINGE,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Style on 09/05/2017