‘Homogenic’: The album that gave Josh Homme faith in modern music
When you start to listen to the music of Josh Homme, regardless of the band that you’re listening to or what time they were releasing music, it becomes abundantly clear that he’s a rock purist. His music relies on hard riffs, exciting rhythm sections, catchy choruses and plenty of energy. It’s reminiscent of rock bands that came before him while still offering up something new.
When discussing his band Kyuss, Homme said that punk music inspired him to start making the music that he did. Black Flag was one of his most influential bands during this period, as he said they showed how you can stay true to a sound while also providing your own unique twist on said sound.
“One of the things about SST bands is that each one sounded completely different, and that really permeated our scene. If you sounded like any other band in town – or any other town – you were ridiculed,” he said, “It became a hellbent search for originality. I loved Black Flag’s Jealous Again and Damaged, but it was My War that really summarised Kyuss’ approach to punk.”
Many people who subscribe to this sound resent a lot of modern music, as they feel like it complicates things too much. This isn’t to say that rock and punk music isn’t complicated; the riffs, solos and layering of a lot of rock music are incredibly complex. For instance, when Led Zeppelin wrote the song ‘Black Dog’, it sparked a conspiracy in rock that they only made the song so that they had a track that was impossible to cover.
John Paul Jones, the brains behind the song, had to confirm that he didn’t write the track to be intentionally awkward. “I actually wrote it in rehearsal from Jimmy’s house on the train. My dad was a musician and he showed me a way of writing down notation on anything,” he said, “And so I wrote the rigg to ‘Black Dog’ on the back of a train ticket which I unfortunately don’t have.”
The complicated nature of modern music results from overexposure to various genres and recording methods. Many artists have access to many different means of making and recording music, and they end up creating something that is inaccessible and confusing as a result. While this can certainly happen, some artists use technology and these various means of recording to their advantage. One of these artists is Björk, to whom Josh Homme was quick to offer praise.
“All her records are so groundbreaking,” said Homme when he announced her album Homogenic as one of the best of all time, “They’re like a reassurance to me that modern music is about delivery: you can have a 52-piece orchestra and a guy playing champagne glasses and someone rubbing a balloon – and if you do it right, it’s amazing.”
