Former Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss member Nick Oliveri has taken, in the convenience of his departure from Queens last year, the opportunity to make his side project, Mondo Generator a priority. Keeping the embers aglow from his days in Queens, MG’s latest release, Dead Planet has the same dark but provocative fuel, but brings a harsher punk element that smacks with a bit of resentment—perhaps in light of what has been described as a rather sore departure from his involvement with former fellow QOTSA frontman, Josh Homme.
Regardless of the impetus for Oliveri’s ferocity—which certainly comes from sources that pre-date the very concept of Queens or Kyuss—the album is a blistering sample of his ability to bring it back to basics.
Seven years since Mondo Generator’s first LP, Cocaine Rodeo comes on the heels of tumult in both Oliveri’s career and in the word in general; and his lyrics reflect a spiteful but nonetheless resilient take on the state of—uh—affairs…
This is jumping around in your bedroom after a fight with your roommate over who’s dirty dishes are in the kitchen sink kind of shit—or, if you’re like 19, teeming with the ‘end of the world’ anthem kind of shit (which, if you’re like 19, is pretty much the same thing).
Homme, a friend of Oliveri’s since childhood, put Oliveri’s departure from QOTSA quite eloquently: “Everywhere we go, Nick is like a whirlwind passing through. And I’m sick of being the one that has to clean up the mess all the time.”
Considering how much bitching rockers tend to do—despite the spoils of making a career out of getting completely shit-housed and rocking the fuck out—Nick’s take is certainly not seeking pity, and plays out to actually rationalize the general bad mood we all are in until we’ve had three martinis or have finally nailed a vocal sesh on the eighth take.
Far too often, angry music is just banter with a guitar and drums (okay, some bass as well); but in this case the material hits with a validation that in unarguable. Get pissed to it!
