Sweethead – Self-Titled

For whatever reason, you don’t find many male-fronted band’s starting side projects with female vocalists.  Once they latch on to a sound they tend to stick with it; and part of that seems to also apply to vocal style.  So imagine my surprise when I learned that the smokey voiced female rock stylings of Sweethead were actually the ambitions of Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.  What better way for a member of an iconic group to distance themselves from his past projects?

Granted, if you know Sweethead’s history, their sound isn’t all that surprising.  Beneath vocalist Serrina Sims’ incredibly strong performance lies the familiar sound of crunching guitars, heavy distortion, and an equally big dose of rock n’ roll, no less fervent than anything from QOTSA’s back catalogue.  But despite the obvious overlap, the decision to cast Sims completely redirects prospective critics away from similarity, and over to her shimmering aura.  And as she makes clear very early on Sweethead’s self titled debut, she certainly makes good on her place in the spotlight.

Across a variety of tempos, Sims takes the reigns, largely responsible for setting tone and attitude.  When the band plays to their roots and ploughs out a steady guitar heavy tune, like “The Sting,” Sims matches their dark allure with her own shadowy mystique.  When riffs fly steady like an obsessive 70’s punk act (as per “Turned out Backs”), she rattles off lyrics with a punchy and unrefined verve.  And when the band leaves their comfort zone in “Meet In The Road’s” and makes for an unplugged sounding combination of simple percussion and idle strings, she lets down her guard, matching the band’s momentarily carefree approach.  Sometimes, like in “The Amazing Vanishing Conquest,” chorus and verse take different nods from each camp, revealing that Sims can shift stylistically with little impediment.

Lyrics tend to be inconsequential though, with most building a lusty imagery that seems more intent on developing the band’s bad boy/girl image than enhancing their melodies.  Sometimes it even permeates their work, as per “P.I.G.,” which tries sounding really confrontational, but instead only comes off unnecessarily aggressive.

If you like other female fronted rock acts (Biff Naked being my closest reference point), then Sweethead should make a welcome addition.  Their self titled debut has all the markings of experience and skill that one should expect from a Queens Of The Stone Age side project, just don’t expect anything terrible insightful – just good old fashioned rock with a woman’s touch.