Savior of Rock and Roll Jack White may have compatriots in the fight to keep commercial hard rock relevant. Them Crooked Vultures, the new supergroup composed of drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), guitarist and vocalist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal) and bassist and relative recluse John Paul Jones (do I need to say where he’s from?), have caused quite a stir in the press, and released their eponymous debut album streaming on their YouTube page, literally storming the bastille of the listening public’s attention and becoming the new poster band for rock legitimacy.

If the hype can be believed (and the album lends plenty of credence, more on that later), this manifestation of Christ-level saviorism couldn’t be better timed. Modern rock radio fans have found themselves mired, in recent years, in pop country the labels shamelessly try to shill as hard rock. Nickelback and 3 Doors Down are the main offenders, bands whose transparent arrangements are wanting only references to flat bed pickups and their old mangy dog to fit in any Garth Brooks collection, but there is no shortage of safe copycat artists for radio DJs to replace them with. And if it isn’t country, it is some kind of reversion to screamo or goth-pop, the two worst representation of the nineties rock movement. There’s even a rumor that people still like U2. Even Grohl’s own Foo Fighters have been looking a bit worse for wear, focusing their energy on a single or two per release, rather than offering full works of art like The Colour and the Shape and There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

This is all not to mention the dissapointments we’ve had to deal with every time we are promised a new supergroup. Velvet Revolver was hit or miss at best, and never bothered to cover any new terrain. Audioslave, a combination of two of the most exciting acts of the nineties, turned into a lazy sludge-fest vehicle for Chris Cornell more boring than any of Sonic Youth’s more unbearable dirges.

Until now, only Jack White has been able to transcend the muck his contemporaries outside of the indie scene seem to be stuck in, with his own project The White Stripes, and his numerous side projects and “supergroups.” The debut release from Them Crooked Vultures sees Dave Grohl taking off the blinders, realizing the wealth of talent in his arsenal of associates, and following in White’s footsteps. “Mind Eraser (No Chaser)” and lead single “New Fang” benefit heavily from the talent and vision of John Paul Jones; in fact, TCV seem poised to follow the career path of Zep, if they have the longevity. The debut is stripped down rock, low on the accessibility factor, but huge when it comes to beats, guitar, and infectious rythms, leaving the band infinite avenues to explore as they evolve. Sound like a certain act from the seventies that TCV happens to share a member with?

It may seem anticlimatic for major rock acts to start from scratch with stripped down songs featuring punishing guitars, a nod to the blues, and just enough innovation to keep the sound fresh, but that just may be the only cure. While we jammed out to surprisingly wonderful acts like Buckcherry, not realizing they were the Tyhoid Maries that were numbing audiences to the point where Nickelback and Hinder were acceptable replacements for the arena ready goliaths of the nineties, Grohl and Homme were taking notes and devising a cure. Even if Them Crooked Vultures proves a less than exciting side project, they deserve our thanks for serving with distinction on the front lines.

Oh, and there’s a track called Scumbag Blues. It’s like they built this album around Scumbag Style Empire!