Them Crooked Vultures

It's impossible to look at the debut from Them Crooked Vultures with clear eyes.

The baggage this supergroup-including Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones-brings to the table is too formidable for expectations to support. My advice is to grab whatever you most like to drink, possibly smoke something, and try to listen to this for what it is: a rock record by guys who know how to rock. "New Fang" recalls the steamy boogie you used to hear coming out of the arcade at the lake, "Scumbag Blues" is like Cream on 2010-era drugs, and "Reptiles" is a Led Zeppelin II-esque showcase for the bands' scary-good chops. Look, you knew Grohl, Homme, and Jones were going to shred, and shred they do. Does it change the world? No, but that's just fine.