Them Crooked Vultures

My favorite supergroup of all time.

Hi Son,

It’s been a struggle for me to get up the nerve to write you lately. Too much shit going on already in 2026. It’s noise that I am trying to keep out of your orbit and with the hope that when you are old enough to realize what’s going on in the world that it’s nothing like what we’re experiencing now. My focus on this note is on rock supergroups. The definition of a supergroup are band members from already established bands deciding to create a project together. Motivations to do so are almost different in every case. Some are motivated as tribute to the fallen. The one I think of the most is Temple of the Dog. Members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden combined to honor the late Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Mother Love Bone who I told you about a while back. In this case it was formed before Pearl Jam started their illustrious career. Some of my other favorite supergroups are Mad Season (Pearl Jam/Alice In Chains), Velvet Revolver (Guns N’ Roses/Stone Temple Pilots/Wasted Youth), Westside Connection (Ice Cube/Mack 10/WC) and The Dead Weather (The Kills/White Stripes/Raconteurs/Karen O). One of the most renown supergroups was The Traveling Wilburys. That group consisted of Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and George Harrison. They would produce two records, however the second did not have Orbison. Roy passed away shortly after the release of their first record.

While the Wilburys are legendary, I was too young too appreciate them during their project. The 00s were a renaissance for me when it came to experiencing rock by catching up for lost time in the 1990s, but also for discovering a lot of rock produced in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2005, Dave Grohl did an interview with the publication Mojo. Dave was asked if “there was anyone you’re still itching to play with?” Here was his response.

The next project that I'm trying to initiate involves me on drums, Josh Homme on guitar, and John Paul Jones playing bass.

That's the next album. That wouldn't suck.

Wait a second. Josh Homme, the lead singer of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age? That’s not too far fetched. Dave has played drums for Queens of the Stone Age, namely on their third record “Songs for the Deaf.” However, John Paul Jones?!?! The bassist for Led Zeppelin?!?! That trio just sounds too good to be true. Well, they weren’t too good to be true. In 2009 they formed the band Them Crooked Vultures. Their first public appearance was on August 9, 2009 in Chicago at midnight.

Their self-titled record dropped later that year on November 13th. I wouldn’t experience it until I heard a couple of the tracks on Pandora Radio. Again, this was before streaming full albums (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). The first song of theirs I heard was “New Fang.” This song was very reminiscent of the Queens of the Stone Age, “Songs for the Deaf” era. I loved this song the first moment I heard it. It’s a great rock song. Dave’s performance on the drums in tandem with Josh’s vocals are pretty special. John’s bass just vibes perfectly with those two and it was pretty much all I needed to hear to want to hear more from this band. One cool piece of information that I just found out was that “New Fang” was announced as a single by Alan Cross on October 21st. Alan is one of my favorite personalities in the music industry. I caught onto him when I came across his radio series “The Ongoing History of New Music” on podcast and get his daily newsletter “A Journal of Musical Things.” He’s a tremendous resource if you want to learn more about several phases of music. A very respected person in the industry.

The other single I heard, before getting access to the entire album through buying a copy on CD was “Mind Eraser, No Chaser.” Josh’s guitar on this song is really cool. Dave provides backup vocals during the chorus and John just keeps being John. The rest of the album is pretty fantastic. The opener is called “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I.” It’s a very bluesy sounding track at the beginning until it builds up to the bridge. The bridge is pretty freaking epic. The bass on this part is just about as abundant of a bass line as I have ever heard on a rock song. This is a fantastic opener to a very solid track list. Two of my other favorites are “Dead End Friends” and “Scumbag Blues.” “Dead End Friends” has a cool opening guitar riff then goes into a steady and straightforward pace where Dave is hitting the drum kit with a lot of aggression. “Scumbag Blues” is a cool song, where Josh goes into his falsetto for the vocals of the verses. The chorus has him coming back to his normal octave and it sounds kind of psychedelic and monotone. John’s bass really grooves throughout the song, which very much gives it a bluesy vibe.

The last song I want to bring up is “Gunman.” It’s the second-to-list track on the album. It’s in-line with how “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” begins, but the tone is much more dark and monotone. Josh’s vocals begin to echo somewhat as he bellows out the chorus, which gives it a bit more creepiness to it. It’s a really cool song. The other component of it is how this song really speaks to what is going on right now in the United States. Here is the lyric of the chorus.

Follow the leader, you lead 'em the same
Slugs punctuate the refrain
Come again?
It don't matter, don't try to explain
You're just a dog to be trained
Choke-chained
You're gonna end up under tooth and nail
If you catch a tiger by the tail
Don't fail
I wanna go blind, wanna stare at the sun
De-evolution

The message to me is that you have a group of people, moreover enforcement who are blindly following training and orders and use the excuse of “just following orders” if shit hits the fan. Essentially a group of people who are close-minded and bigoted toward the world. It speaks a lot to what is happening with Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Right now it’s hit an all-time high in terms of pressure being put on by the federal agency and the resistance to their actions is fierce. A lot of those who oppose ICE probably view them in the same way “Gunman” is describing it’s subject. The side I’m on is the resistance, so “Gunman” is one of the many anthems I have toward ICE. Lives have been lost in these back-and-forths and aggression against protestors has increased with the blessing of the federal government. I don’t know how bad this will get, but I have a hard time believing there will be any lawful accountability to the “enforcement” that is occurring. This is what I hope you will not have to witness when you’re old enough. No one should have to die, regardless of whether or not you believe self-defense is justified. Just make sure you do your best to see and hear what you do, before allowing others to influence your opinion of what actually happened.

Love,

Dad

I’m not charging for subscriptions, but if you do want to pledge:

buymeacoffee.com/brainofjayhawk