Doin' makeup at the mall like bad tattoos

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

06/10/26 : Perfecth - Queens Of The Stone Age

Our fourth visit with QOTSA and it's fair to say I've not been overly impressed so far - and I've got very little reason to expect things are going to improve here.

Actually, it's definitely an improvement - it has strong Bowie and Nirvana vibes to it, with enough variety to be interesting (and lack of variety has been a common complaint on our previous visits). I can't say I loved it on first listen, but it certainly feels like another listen would be tolerable and it might even go up in my estimation as a result. 

We're at #1 with a new entry in the chart this week (their second chart topper) and the rest of the top five are Olivia Rodrigo, Michael Jackson, The Snuts (a new entry) and Fontaines D.C.. And we've got quite a few other new entries to consider this week.

The Snuts (#4)
The Snuts are one of my favourite bog standard indie bands - they don't do anything particularly special, but they do it well. And this is very much in that vein - well worth a listen if you like that sort of thing.

Nickelback (#6)
They're still going?!? Yup, it's thirty years since their debut album but they've stuck with it, despite all the stick. And I can see why they get the stick, because it's too heavy for the casual listener but not heavy enough for most people who might be interested in it. But if you like heavy-lite, then I guess this will hit the spot.

Editors (#7)
Whereas this lot have only been going for 24 years - lightweights! I was there at the beginning and whilst I'd struggle to say I've followed them religiously, I've always quite liked them when I've caught up with them - and this is no exception.

MK (#20)
An artist I wasn't aware of and I'd never have guessed he's a dancy/housey producer type. And as is the usually the case with this stuff, I like some of it and find some of it interminably dull, without being able to explain what makes the difference.

Nines (#30)
This is a rappy dude who we stumble across from time to time (and we even met properly once) - he's not my thing but I find him remarkably bearable. Listening to it did make me think we've seen remarkably little rap this year - Drake, J Cole and Kneecap are the only ones that come anywhere close (and it's fair to say there's some variety shown across those three albums).

The Who (#31)
This is a reissue of their '75 album By Numbers - I didn't listen to it because I suspect I'm going to have to endure it sometime further down the line

The Big Moon (#51)
This lot are an all-female indie group which is usually my sort of thing - but we met them previously and I was somewhat underwhelmed. However, I quite liked this one - it's nicely upbeat indie.

The highest re-entry is James Blunt's best-of (#81 - Traitors related methinks) with a weird couple of best-ofs also making a reappearance - Stevie Wonder (#95) and The Deftones (#99). Last week I said that Sienna would be at #6 and I obviously underestimated the number of successful new entries because she's been pushed down to #9 - I think QOTSA will manage to hang in there but not too high, so I'm going for #63.

Wikipedia tells us that this is their ninth album and it's "inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing pottery by letting cracks show" and the "softer musical aesthetic" was inspired by their recent concert film Alive In The Catacombs, which was the first time a band had been allowed to play in the catacombs of Paris, which sounds like a pretty cool thing! Critically the views were a bit mixed (I guess it comes down to whether you like the new sound or not) but commercially, it's done very well getting to #1 in Australia, Austria and The Netherlands, although I'm surprised I only got to #10 in the US.

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a CD copy for £12 or a vinyl copy for £24, but if you want to go mad then you have the option of a picture disc for £130 or a limited numbered oxblood red/blue colour-in-colour effect with black splatter vinyl copy for £150 - and having seen the pictures, I can tell you that it's pretty fuckin' ugly. However, from a place of low expectations, this album managed to surprise me and I reckon they've done enough to take the album of the week award, although I suspect I'd enjoy Editors and Big Moon more if I gave them a chance to settle in there.

30/10/26 - A surprise revisit