Zipper Down [LP]

Veteran multitaskers that they are, Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme packed a lot into the seven years between Heart On and Zipper Down. Homme returned to Queens of the Stone Age and started another band, Them Crooked Vultures, with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones; Hughes became an ordained minister, appeared in a movie with Grace Jones and Iggy Pop, and worked on his solo project, Boots Electric. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that Zipper Down feels more like the work of a side project than any of the duo's albums since Peace Love Death Metal. As always, Homme and Hughes serve up, in the best sense of the word, a caricature of rock & roll: "Complexity"'s mix of dumb and clever -- as well as the hints of T. Rex and the Stones in its revved-up riffs -- is quintessential Eagles of Death Metal, while "The Deuce" proves once again that the duo needs little more than a scrappy groove and heroic doses of cowbell to make a great song. Elsewhere, they pull off a nimble balance of lighthearted and brokenhearted on the excellent "I Love You All the Time" and make Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" their own with a louche glam-rock beat and wailing, "Immigrant Song"-style backing vocals instead of the original's synths. ~ Heather Phares