(Interscope/Universal)

Alternative rock royalty find a common cause on their fifth album

Translated from the Latin, the name of this new QOTSA effort is ‘common age’. Whatever leader Josh Homme intended by this title (a dig at the ordinariness of modern America, maybe), this is an uncommonly good album, even by his meticulous standards. And that’s despite, or maybe because, there was little actually prepared before he took his band into the studio with, as usual, a few intriguing visitors in The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, Trent Reznor and now regular guest Mark Lanegan. Homme continues to tweak his ever-evolving brand of stoner rock, veering away from obvious paths either to make things heavier (the fast, low-end stomp of Battery Acid), juicier (the infectious pound of Sick, Sick, Sick), sweeter (the acid-pop touches in Into The Hollow) or stranger (the sultry moodiness of Make It Wit Chu, which first appeared in different form in the Desert Sessions back in 2003). But whatever sonic shenanigans are served up here, it’s all keenly anchored by Homme’s eye for precision as well as for primal sounds. Those still moaning about Nick Oliveri’s sacking need to move on. Homme undeniably already has.  

**** ½

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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