That’s not a complaint: the record excels because Savages aren’t screaming at you from a distance. They’re intimate, asking questions — the same questions that punk has asked since the beginning — but doing it in a way that makes it feel like the band is two feet away.

I read one review of the album shortly after its release that said the album feels like a songwriting rut for the band. I find that perspective very interesting: I understand what the author means, but as somebody who’s played in a number of groups, this sounds exactly like what a band would put out if they were comfortable.

These songs weren’t meant for a stage, necessarily. They were made for the basement. When friends are over and they want to hear what you’re working on, but you don’t have the space to get right in their face about it, you’d play something like this. It’s still got a bite, but its instrumentation is quieter.

While most punk (and perhaps even most post-punk) sounds like an angry, barking dog, Adore Life sounds like a long and bitter stiff drink. It’s a step forward for the band musically and sonically, and it’s also a tremendous sophomore effort that surprises fans and breaks the mould of what we often expect from the genre.

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Devon Walsh’s voice really carries this project. He’s one half of this musical duo, but I get the feeling that Majical Cloudz is really his baby. His voice is fantastic, but the mood of the whole thing really sets the band apart. This is a contemplative record obsessed with loneliness, and it’s beautifully morose.

While this wouldn’t be my Monday morning listening, it absolutely is something I’d put on when I’m feeling a little introspective. It’s honest and real, despite its synth origins. Highly recommended.

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It sounds like Josh learned a lot from Them Crooked Vultures, his (awesome) side project with members of The Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin. The songs are tight and try new things with the QOTSA sound, and it’s an immensely rewarding listen.

The first two singles, My God is the Sun and I Appear Missing are sadly two of the least interesting songs on the album. Songs like If I Had a Tail and I Sat by the Ocean are reminiscent of The Rolling Stones, but are recognizably Queens of the Stone Age. Songs like The Vampyre of Time and Memory (check it out live) are unlike anything the group’s ever done before. This is definitely going to go down as one of the most interesting rock records of the year.

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