Before You Go See Them Crooked Vultures, You've Gotta Give The Sporting Life a Spin

Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reverb. His column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.

​With Them Crooked Vultures coming to The Paramount on Saturday, everybody's talking and writing about the members previous musical associations (Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana). I need to mention the work that Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did with vocalist Diamanda Galás.

Released in September of 1994, The Sporting Life is passionate and violent. It's a rock record to the core with Pete Thomas on big drums and Jones on bass. The first track, "Skótoseme," establishes a rock-groove rhythm section you'd expect from Jones, and this keeps consistent throughout the record. Galás gives a voice that wails in precision over the bass and drums.

There's no electric guitar and perhaps that would have been redundant - or even stock - considering the unique instrument that is Galás' vocals. It's piercing and intense. Put all these parts together and you've got a heavy rock band that not only has you bobbing your head to the groove, you also recoil from the sheer ferocity.

Galás plays keys also. There's soul with the old tune "Dark End of the Street". The songs are compelling and tend to menace. Galás wields a knife on the cover of the album and you'll find out her intentions with the tune, "Do You Take This Man?"

If you're grooving to Them Crooked Vultures and haven't heard The Sporting Life - check it out!!!!!!