Queens of the Stone Age
– Villains
Nobody really needs a danceable rock record that feels like it’s been soaked in tequila, sunstroke, and a little regret—but Queens of the Stone Age gave us one anyway. Villains is a swaggering, twitchy, late-night spiral disguised as a party. Josh Homme, equal parts crooner and saboteur, leads the charge like a man who’s figured out how to smile while setting everything around him on fire.
Best of…
This is not a raw, garage-born QOTSA. It’s leaner, slicker, but no less dangerous. With Mark Ronson producing, the band plugs into a weird hybrid of glam rock and desert grime. The drums are tighter, the bass fuzzier, the hooks sly. They don’t pummel—they slink. They seduce. Every track feels like it was meant to be played at 2 a.m. with your collar open and your judgment long gone.
There’s still darkness lurking under the surface. Homme’s lyrics paint vague threats and haunted reflections in equal measure. And yet, the record pulses. It grooves. Even when it gets bleak, it never sounds tired. Villains doesn’t aim for catharsis—it wants to keep you dancing until the end, even if the floor’s crumbling beneath you.
Choice Tracks
Feet Don’t Fail Me
The slow-burn intro gives way to a grinding, rhythmic charge. It’s a mission statement: don’t stop moving, no matter how weird it gets.
The Way You Used to Do
A twisted little sock-hop from hell. The guitar riff swings like a greaser on speed, and Homme croons like he’s trying to seduce a ghost.
Domesticated Animals
The lurching groove and sinister lyrics conjure a sense of claustrophobia. It’s rebellion with a smirk, set to a marching beat.
Head Like a Haunted House
The most frantic cut on the record. It explodes with B-movie energy, all punky propulsion and lyrical chaos. A haunted carnival ride in song form.
Villains of Circumstance
The closer creeps in slowly, full of longing and melancholy. It builds to a sweeping, cinematic finish—a rare moment of vulnerability that still carries the band’s trademark edge.
Villains is Queens of the Stone Age at their most twisted and danceable—slick on the surface, sinister underneath. It’s rock for late nights, bad decisions, and electric tension. A groove-heavy, slow-burn descent into a devilish kind of fun.