The band Josh Homme never wanted to play with again: “Keep your chequebook in your pants”
Even though he’s been in plenty of other projects over the years, most people will acknowledge that Queens of the Stone Age is by far the most fruitful outlet that Josh Homme has ever applied himself to.
It is unfortunate that Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup alongside Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, never made it beyond releasing one album together in 2009, as there was plenty of potential for it to have sat nicely alongside his main project and garnered plenty of further attention had they aimed to prolong it. As it is, the single album they made is a thoroughly enjoyable listen, and one that the trio would undoubtedly have had a blast making.
His involvement in other projects, such as briefly being a member of Screaming Trees alongside Mark Lanegan, and playing guitar in QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri’s band Mondo Generator, have also produced intriguing results, and while Eagles of Death Metal have received a fair share of criticism for being a cartoonish imitation of garage rock, you get the feeling that Homme has always thoroughly enjoyed playing alongside frontman Jesse Hughes in the duo.
The same, however, can’t be said of his time with Kyuss, as despite having co-founded the group alongside Oliveri, John Garcia, Brant Bjork and Chris Cockrell, he felt as if the entire project subsided without ever having gained enough praise for their stoner rock innovations. Formed in 1987 while still a teenager, the group would spend the 1990s paving the way for several other heavy and sludgy acts, with the likes of Sleep and Electric Wizard following in their footsteps.
Records such as Blues For the Red Sun and Welcome to Sky Valley are regarded as masterpieces of the genre, and you’d think that this is something that Homme takes immense pride in. However, despite the praise that the records now get from music nerds trying to trace the lineage of genres forming as a result of these influential albums, the attention that they received at the time was minimal, and they were never around to see the stoner rock and metal scenes truly flourish in the years after.
As a result, Homme has vowed never to return to making music with Kyuss, even for a brief reunion tour. “I will never put them back together,” Homme revealed during a 2007 interview with Uncut when asked about the possibility of them ever reemerging. “We’ve already got offered stupid stupid money, and I just said, ‘Keep your chequebook in your pants.’ I actually love that no-one ever saw Kyuss.”
While his word seems quite final, it’s hard to ever say never, and with the interest in the band not necessarily having declined in the years since their disbanding, it’s entirely possible that one day, they could make a return should they wish to. None of the members have necessarily fallen out with one another, which would often be a good reason for a band to never return, but for Homme, it’s a part of his past that he’d rather leave alone and never tarnish the legacy of.
