Speaking to Rock Sound, Kyuss vocalist John Garcia has said that the band, reunited as Kyuss Lives with original members Garcia, bassist Nick Olivieri and drummer Brant Bjork (guitarist Josh Homme‘s place being taken by Bruno Fevery), will be working on a new album following their upcoming run of shows.
“Our rehearsals are going so well that we’re thinking of doing another record,” said the singer. “Brant, Nick and myself have collectively agreed that once everything is done live and we’re done with our solo projects, we’re going to do another record.”
An exciting prospect for fans and one that is sure to be welcomed considering how well the tickets to the shows have been selling. Still, while getting together without Homme to play shows is one thing, making an album without him, considering how pivotal a role he played in shaping the band’s sound, is another. Speaking of Homme’s lack of involvement Garcia had this to say.
“I have nothing bad to say about Josh – he’s extremely intelligent, very smart, a great guitar player, great song writer, a great vocalist – he is a bad ass, there is no question and I love him dearly but he is busy with his own thing,” the singer told Rock Sound. “He has Them Crooked Vultures, Queens Of The Stone Age, he’s a father, a businessman and even if we asked him to do it, I don’t think he’d say yes, so I don’t want to set myself up for a big fat no which is 99.9 percent what he would say.”
Speaking about the possibility of a Kyuss reunion back in 2007 Homme implied it wasn’t what he’d want for the band. ”Kyuss was a really magical thing – and if you weren’t there, well, you weren’t. I’ll let other bands alter their great legacies. Kyuss has such a great history that it would be a total error. I like that nobody saw Kyuss. That sounds like a legend forming to me.”
I don’t mean to say that I’m not excited to see the band when their tour lands here next year, and the prospect of an album featuring Garcia, Olivieri and Bjork I’m hardly ambivalent about, it does reek a bit of those disappointing Smashing Pumpkins albums. Still only time will tell, and at the very least we know the shows will kick ass, here’s a taste from when Olivieri and Bjork joined Garcia onstage in France as part of his Garcia Plays Kyuss tour.