No Filler Music Podcast - Burn The Witch - A Deep Dive into QOTSA's Creepiest Tracks (Bonus Halloween Episode)

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

It's Halloween night, and we're reaching into our bucket of treats and sharing Queens of the Stone Age's creepiest tracks. We dig into why their music's embrace of dark imagery and macabre storytelling makes them a natural fit for the spookiest night of the year. Join us as we dive into some of QOTSA's heaviest, most ominous grooves that are as intelligently crafted as they are genuinely unsettling. Tracklist Queens of the Stone Age - Mexicola Queens of the Stone Age - Monsters In The Parasol Queens of the Stone Age - I Think I Lost My Headache Queens of the Stone Age - Burn The Witch Queens of the Stone Age - Someone's In The Wolf Queens of the Stone Age - Turnin On The Screw Queens of the Stone Age - Mosquito Song This show is part of the Pantheon Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross-Training Treadplus at OnePeloton.ca. We're at Al-Yankovic, and you're listening to the Pantheon Network. Happy Halloween, everyone out there listening. We've got our buddy Mitchell here, and it's our annual bonus spooktacular Halloween episode. It's my favorite time of year,

favorite night of the year. Oh yeah. Getting in that mood, bro. Spookiest time of year. Yeah. I mean, this is the night, dude. It's fucking Halloween night, remember? Huck, wink, wink.

What's that? Ding dong? I'll be right back. Here you go, kid. A full-size candy bar. Dude, you would be the one to give out full-sized candy bar. Travis, shout out to my in-laws. Shout out, Tejone Street.

There is a madness every Halloween in Colorado Springs on Tehone Street. Thousands of kids. Yeah. thousands they call it the terror on tejone and uh yeah my father-in-law he has like a bouncer's like like door clicker to keep like attendance you know for like fire safety fire code safety yeah we clicked through it it went past the nine-nine like twice literal thousands of kids yeah that's awesome yeah i'll actually be able to get to do it this year it's on a friday so it's going to be even crazier it's just a madhouse of trick-or-treaters it's called terror on tehone that's what they call

it locally and i mean kids come from all over town it's wild trav that's awesome man that's like I'm glad that there's still streets and neighborhoods that, like, keep it alive, man. Me too. Me too. It's a little, it's not quite the same as like our experience, you know, but definitely probably ever is. No, no. Any human experience.

But yeah, it's really fun. Dude, I've seen some cool. I saw a kid dressed up as a fart one year. He was just like this green cloud and he had a little box that he would play the sound out of. Dude, I'm a fart. And he'd play it. You know, I'm a fart.

That's great. Dude, I get maybe like 10 kids. Maybe. No, Travis. , Travis, we're talking hundreds of dollars of candy. like Clayton and his wife had to like a pony up. I mean they get bags in bags, dude.

We take turns passing it out. You just go to Costco basically or like? Essentially, yeah, we'll bring over some. You know, it's like a, it's a, that's wild, man. It's a village affair because it's just hundreds and hundreds up into the thousands of trick-or-treaters. Dude, that's what Halloween is supposed to be, man.

It's supposed to be like a neighborhood thing. You know what I mean? That's awesome. Yeah. Pushing your, maybe your comfort zones a little with something spooky or creepy or maybe a little hell raisin a little tricks not just treats I love oh yeah I have fond memories of it this is it man it definitely it connects me to something I think uh I think is a really cool holiday yeah definitely and that's why we do a bonus Halloween episode every year mentioned because we know

how important this is so uh we've been teasing this actually for weeks now so uh if you've been listening you know what we're going to talk about tonight we're just going to do a grab bag dude of some great Queens of the Stone Age tracks. A candy bag, you might say, a pillowcase full of a... Isn't that what we always use, pillowcases? Oh, I remember those. You remember you used to get like a bucket from McDonald's. Yeah, but it never lasted.

I mean, me and you and Quentin and, you know, O'Landra, we figured out, and Tucker, we figured out, you had a pillowcase. I mean, the pillowcase is the way to, like, you know... It's a way to go. Because there's a lot of room in there. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

So, yeah, a pillowcase of, of a creepy tracks. A pillowcase of some Queens of the Stone Age. tracks that are, you know, spooky adjacent, which is most of their discography. Like most of their songs are kind of spooky. And not just the way they sound spooky, but just like the lyrics, what they're singing about. And I want to temper that with it's not just like a spooky for spooky sake, like some kind of shock jock act or something, right? Like it's slicker than that and it's smart.

It's dangerous. That's why it's scary is because it's like borderline dangerous. not like overtly singing about satanic rituals or, you know, that kind of cliched, so to speak, type spooky music, which I got love for that shit too, bro. I mean, you go into the deep end of heavy metal all the time, trap with that throaty, I mean, stuff that you are afraid of to listen to tonight because you might bring something out, right? Or hear that tapping on the window. If you want to coax the demons out.

But Queens of the Stone Age, man, there's just the staying power. And then also the versatility, just incredible. So, yeah, this time of year, nothing better than actually listening to some good rock and roll that also gives you the heat. Definitely. And I feel like Queens of Stony is like the last good, solid rock band. Dude, any excuse to talk about Queens and Stony's? Let me just say that. It could be, we could do a Christmas episode on them.

I don't know. We'll dig deep. They're just so incredible, dude. Incredible. Yes. I mean, Josh Homm is. Is that how you pronounce it? I wanted to ask because you all touched on it before.

It's Homs, it's not Homi. We learned. We learned our lesson. We learned our lesson because I've been mispronouncing it my own life, too. but we looked it up when we did the episode. We did an episode on songs for the deaf a few years back. One of my favorite ones that y'all did early days. That was early on, yeah, Josh Kahn.

I tried to avoid any songs off that record for this episode because y'all did touch on it, basically. Even though there's, I could think of, even just the biggest hit, their biggest hit, no one knows. That song is creepy. If you start to, if you watch the music video while listening to it also, it gives you just good, good creepy vibes, dude. Yeah, yeah, totally.

All right, so we're not going to get into the history of the band. If you're listening to the show, you know who can you listen to me. Like, we don't need to. Yeah, they've had lots of changes. They've had lots of staples in the band for a while. They are consistently the same act, certainly spearheaded by Josh Holm. Yes, exactly. Yeah, we're here for the tunes.

We're here for the spooky vibes. So here we go. We're going to start. And, dude, Mitchie, thank you for bringing this, this pick. Oh, bro. So this is actually the audio from their live from the basement sessions. The song that we're talking about, the first one that I wanted to bring up, And certainly when we had the idea for creepy queens of the Stone Age tracks,

this one jumped forward to my mind because of the lyrics. But we'll touch on that when we play. It's called Mexicola. And I think it's just a reference to the type of Mexican Coca-Cola you can get when you leave Southern California and you go into parts of Tijuana or Mexico on that side of North America. And I don't know why it's called that, but I think it's, I don't know. We'll let the song play and see and talk back and forth on it and see what we think.

But it's a very straightforward name, but a very ominous, heavy awesome song dude and i particularly like the version from the basement sessions yeah anytime you can catch one of your favorite bands performing uh if they did a basement session that's gonna be watch it yeah yeah yeah go watch it for sure that will that will become the ultimate way to listen to that track you know what i mean it holds it holds their feet to the fire and the queen the queens of stonage they never they never balk bro they sound amazing vocals everything just tight exactly all right we go mexicolla live from the basement beautiful kind of melodic ohios and woo and woos and stuff and it just keeps that picture that

he's painted of maybe like a road trip to mexico gone awry or to a dangerous place or somewhere where he shouldn't be just it keeps me immersed in that vibe the way he's so almost like just this pretty angelic singing over this just harsh just smack you in the face baseline and just drums it just won't quit bro i just love it And it's dangerous. I know that's kind of adjacent to creepy, but, and, you know, spooky, so to speak. But when I listen to that song, it makes me uneasy in all the ways that I like. Yeah.

Dude, that's a great way to describe, like just the Queens of the Sonnet sound in general. There's like this uneasiness, you know what I mean? Yes. It just unsettled, like, and that's just part of his guitar tone, part of his like. It's the true opposite of what soft rock embodies. It is like the pull, it makes it takes it to places. that maybe you never been before and that maybe sometimes you don't want to go back, but the way he plays and the way he sings is so goddamn unique.

And we were just chatting about his vocals or slept on. So his guitar work is too. Nobody really throws him around. And he's certainly one of the most unique. He's living best guitar player, one of the best guitar players right now, bro. And that's without his unique approach to it. You know what I'm saying?

The way he makes it his own. And then his vocals on top, bro. I just fucking love that track. I love it all. The lyrical content. You know, drooling livers, bloodshot. It just these, just, it paints a picture of intent to do not good things. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

I fucking love that song, Trave. That's like a top three Queens of the Stone Age song for me, no doubt. Yeah, I got to be honest, man. I haven't really paid enough attention to this debut record. Oh, it's my favorite one, probably, man. Probably the rated art. And then the deluxe edition is like the red one that's got a whole, it's like double long. Check that one out because it's got B side stuff.

Yeah, this one's on the self-titled, though, came on 98. Yeah, maybe I'm thinking of a different cover. I mean, Radidar may have had maybe Mexico was a bonus draggers, I think got on one of the rated R releases. But, you know, there's actually, there's actually two covers for this, this debut record. This is a debut self title. It came on 98.

There is a cover. Yeah, it's about to hit 30 years old, man. That's crazy. There's a cover with like this, this girl basically. and like sweaty panties, basically. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then there's another record that looks pretty awesome. It's got this like space, this chick.

That's the first one I think. I think that's the first EP. I've seen that, yeah. And it has that kind of touching on your home shot out, kind of a space rock vibe there, right? For sure. And coming off the back of Caius and all that, yeah, I mean, we wouldn't have to fully go into the history of it,

but 98. I didn't realize exactly how old that debut sound was, bro. So, well, speaking of Caius, so like this record was primarily written and recorded by Josh Hom and former Caius bandmate Alfredo Hernandez, who was on the drums. So that's pretty dope, man. That is dope. And then they brought in Nick, Nick Oliveri, dude. He was there from the beginning, man. Yeah, he was kind of their awesome, like street crit, I think, is the vibe I've gathered.

His, like, his edgy, you know, approach to playing bass and just living as a punk rocker gave him crit. He was also part of Kai. too so yeah that's i mean dude that that's to me i've always been fascinated by that desert rock scene that they were kind of like you know pioneers of bro yeah i mean it's it's yeah i mean when you listen to this stuff dude it sounds like it's fucking born in the the fucking heat of the you know with the vast fucking emptiness of the desert i can feel exactly what it feels like i think in my mind dude i really do and i don't know if that's a movie image i bought and sold myself but yeah it doesn't matter bro i mean they've come out and said that that songs for the dead

The Deaf was a conceptual album where you're driving from, what was it, L.A., out to the, out to Joshua Tree, basically. Yeah, yeah, exactly. For what they, you know, a good drive out to the desert. So they've given me the contextual clues to like what it feels like to be in that. But yeah, man, I mean, that's got to be a mecca, man. We should, we should do that one day trip. Oh, man. That'd be a fucking, fucking, this kind of road trip, bro.

Dude, catch a, catch a show. That would be fucking dope. If they still do the desert, uh, bring out a, generator yeah bring out a generator oh that's like plugging you imagine those parties dude before it like before like no one knows because i want to temper this episode too with i i came into queens of the stone age as a young boy with because of that hit no one knows yeah right probably me too oh y'all show me that no doubt i think y'all got to see them with the foo fighters with dave grole playing that tour i think uh i didn't i didn't get to see him alive maybe i maybe i made that

I mean, dude, I wish that that was a, I wish that memory could be planted in my brain as, as a real one. Trav, it's strong enough in mind that it's, it happened somewhere in some universe. It happened. Because I swear, I'm jealous of that memory. Maybe. I mean, we've seen, we've seen food fighters a couple times. Maybe that's what it was. And I saw a cave in open for free fighters.

Yeah, those guys are fucking cool to talk about a cool sound on that. But man, dude. Yeah, somehow I have, I have not, I have not seen Queens of the Sun Age live. But, but so yeah, yeah, what, what I'm getting at is, if, if you. he had played Mexico for me then, I would have been scared. Like, you knew, I wouldn't have, but in time, that song, and I keep coming back to it, dude, like that song in particular for this band. At time, telling you, man, it's like top three for me, just that one in particular. Yeah, and it sounds, it sounds like one they could come out with tomorrow, too, in a way.

Some of their songs off that first record are a bit long and spacey. Definitely. Yeah, great, great first track to kick us off. So now we're going to move to their next record. So we're going to moved to rated R. And, you know, this one jumped out of me just for, you know, the fact that it has the word monster in it. And this is Halloween night, dude. So. Yeah, I like that we're going in order of release here. So this we can kind of get like a cool as it gets closer and closer to the more of the newer ones that we have. So now we're in the year 2000, June 6, 2000s when this came out. Rated R. I think I probably, probably took me a while to actually get around to listening to this one. but I remember there's a lot of fun

kind of wackiness in this record too if I remember correctly there's some goofiness in here like I've always loved Is this one that starts with Nicodine Valium, Bucan marijuana Yeah, feel good hit of the summer Yeah, I've got a record Yes, it's called Rated R for a reason

They don't hold back for sure Yeah Like they're singing about what they're about Exactly Exactly So I'm gonna try to get the lyrics pulled up for this song Because I don't even know what the fuck it's talking about I already got them bro, monsters

there's some there's some creepy uh creepy lyrics in here so here we go all right the song again is called monsters in the parasol all right so i according to the genius dot com page and now this it makes total sense when you hear this so apparently this was written uh this was josh ham describing his first lsd trip as a teenager oh bro if so i guess he started seeing the wall started growing hair and shit, you know, things get furry and fuzzy and warped. He's saying Paul's dad is warped and bubbling. That's hilarious. He must have been, he was probably in like some cool hippie dad.

Like, yeah, me, my dad's cool. He's one of those dads, you know, like that's probably a good place to be. Yeah, he's what, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I see. That's great, man. I dig it because it does have that. Like I typed in, it seemed like a paranoid delusion of some kind of. Yeah.

I mean, that's what, yeah, totally. Because he's like, you know, Paul's sister is an alien. So he's just like describing like what he. was experiencing during his LSD trip, which is, dude. But yeah, what the fuck's up? What the fuck's a parasol? It's like a, it's an old umbrella. It's an old umbrella. Okay. It's not an umbrella. It's a different type of thing. You're right. It's like that very like kind of kind of, yeah, I'm looking at it. It looks like the, it's like the kind of umbrella you get in like your, your drink or something like that. There's a little tiny paper. Yes. Exactly. So what the

fuck's he talking about? A monster in your parasol. Bro, who knows? It sounds creepy as they had a, I totally got a, and they only had one record, but that them crooked vulture's side project where he played back with Girl on the kit and John Paul Jones from a fucking Zeppelin was on bass. And then Elaine Johans or anyhow, a guy that's played guitar with Queens a lot and like special instruments. He was on their on that record too. But that song, but right then just reminded me of that, of them, of them crooked vultures kind of vibe.

Yeah, I mean, that's something like that. Very different from that first song we played. Exactly. The first one was just heavy, just bass low end in your fucking face. and cool this that one was like you know it was kind of it was weird in a good way yeah i mean like when you think about queens of stony he's like this is a very straightforward you know and there's some like really like just like straightforward rock riffs in this in this track but like yeah you faded out just before he has like kind of a little take out there where he uh yeah and his and that's also

an introduction to some of the tone that he gets and i know is just super unique for any player out there But like, yeah, that's the thing. Like, if you, if you think about songs for the deaf, you know, that song, going to leave you, right? Yeah. I mean, it's just another one of those, like, it sounds like almost like a straightforward garage, like just. Yes.

Yeah. Just like any band USA could have put out for sure. Exactly. But that's what awesome about these guys is that they will put out these straightforward songs, but it's still sort of like, you know. Fresh and new. I know, dude. It's a new perspective on it.

Yeah. it's still sort of warped and bubbling, if you will. And I have a feeling, and it's more than a feeling, actually. But Homm, I think he pours his shit out, bro. He pour, you know what I mean? I mean, if he's willing to sing about that, even if it's in kind of a lighthearted way, right? Like, you know, Paul's sister is an alien. Oh, well, you know, things covered in air, blah, blah, blah.

He's very personal. And I've seen that recently they had that catacombs performance that was all him on a piano and with like an acoustic guitar, maybe a tambourine. And it was just felt very intimate and personal. Like the guy isn't a. afraid of letting us see what's in something in his head sometimes, right? And is like his heart too, because he's very, he's very sexy for lack of a better term, man. I don't know how he's so slick and cool.

There's something about him, dude. He's got a, he's got an aura about him, man. Yes, massively. Massively, a hot pink aura, no doubt, dude. He's just, yeah, dude. Ouses it. So, yeah, after that one, bro, after the monster's in Paul's dad's acid. We got another track from the record here.

Yeah, man. and the next one is called, I think I lost my headache. I think I lost my headache. Yeah. This song, bro, I think, you know, when we first brought this idea up a month, maybe or so back for Halloween night, which it totally is, what, what's that? I think I just heard a ghost. Oh, fuck.

Yeah. It's okay. I got my cat with me. This is the night. Yeah, is that a black cat, right? Yeah, perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So I think I lost my headache. Let's just go right into it. This song is long. I think around maybe the five minute mark is where it goes off the rails trav. Have you listened? Did you did a little pre-screen of this one? We can fade in. We can do two clips if you want.

Yes, we should because you'll know kind of when, Trave. It'll go from when he starts to sing, the tempo will change dramatically and then about 30 seconds into that second half of the song, the latter part when the horns start making you feel like you're having the paranoid delusion and some kind of mental breakdown. That's when we can stop it until you don't have to fully play it. But I wanted to bring this one out because this is the first one I think that will make us all feel uneasy and a little scared, certainly by the end of it, dude. But it's also a groove.

I mean, all that said, sounds like it's a song you shouldn't listen to. But this song is fucking awesome. I don't think I've actually heard this song before. Oh, bro. I know. And Quentin mentioned that too. I want his take on it. So Quentin, when you hear this, bro, please tell me what you feel, especially on this song.

Because this might be the creepiest one of the night, in my opinion. It might be. Well, maybe maybe you don't listen to it when you're feverish and fucking like a loose. That's the perfect time, dude. That's the perfect time. You're going to see things turn to fur. Quentin's going to be like, I think I just got a. another headache.

Yeah. That's right. It will. By the end, he will have three. I think my headache just extended. You have no idea. You have no idea. Part of the song.

How do you feel about it? Because I've listened to that song a lot. Dude. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard his vocals quite like that. I mean, like that, yeah, that, like, I don't think he's done that maybe ever since. I mean, I haven't listened to any of their, any of their newer stuff, really. but like the way he carried some of those notes, man. I'm fairly caught up through in Times New Roman and like clockwork and stuff.

I know we don't have a whole lot of that from their later stuff for this episode. But no. But no, dude, that song in particular, and you chatted it out. You said there's a touch of Lane Staley there. Yeah. Yes, dude. Yes, you scratch that edge for me. And it would have been off the back of the wave that was grunge too in 98 or 2000, whenever this was.

So we're still in that pocket. But yes, bro. Yeah. The uneasiness that it sets in just from jump. But then it kind of, it draws. you back in and it's beautiful and it's but it's heart wrenching also you know it's a song it starts with they call and let it ring the door was open i swear no use picking up you know it's all in my head it's kind of straightforward a little emo if you read it straight out right without knowing that it's a

queen's of the stone age track but but it that man it gets me in that fucking creepy attention my attention is there it's like i'm in an escape room in this song and i got to get out by the end dude just in that opening riff, that slow kind of ambling kind of. Yes. It sounds like you're kind of like disoriented stumbling around. Maybe you're like you're going to have like a fun house or something. Absolutely, bro. Or being pursued by, you know, said bad guy, ghosty in the woods, whatever.

Yeah. I mean, like you said, I mean, this could be in any number of different freaking horror films, man. Yeah, this could be a needle drop in any kind of horror movie or just the credit, the role at the beginning or the end, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that's the first half of the song. And then it goes into it.

And I want to shout out the fucking steel guitar in it, bro. The lap steel guitar. I just love that sound in the background, dude. And they still busted out. This song is played in that basement sessions, Trav, and I highly recommend watching it on that. Oh, really?

It's a tighter version, yeah. And the last half of the song, after this kind of slick guitar solo that will bring us back into it, bro, it goes off the rails. There's horns. You'll see. Just fade it back in and you'll see. So this is the second half of,

I think I lost my headache. but I'm pretty sure he didn't lose his headache, bro, because by the end of this, yeah, just let it play out a bit. And once you've had enough, bro, you can fade it out into our next song,

bro, because I know it's pretty long. It's like an eight-minute track. Is it basically just like, just an instrumental breakdown kind of situation? I guess we can just find out. We're done with hearing him sing. And now it just fades into this fucking very helter-skelter, like,

and you gave me the kind of the painting of the picture there. It gives me like a carnival, gone awry vibes by the end, especially with the horn stuff. And I don't know if they ever recreate that sound either. That's another way. I always tend to think about Queens of the Stone. It just sounds like a carnival.

Yes. He could absolutely be like a three-ring carnival leader, old hum. And, you know, he's spiffy enough with his gold tooth and his fucking. Oh, yeah. And, you know, showing us his axe. Yes, man. I would buy tickets in spades for that show. Oh, 100%.

Dude. Queens of Sonny's Circus. I'm there. Yeah, that'd be fucking fun. All right, here we go. All right. We're going to pick it back up where we left off. Life, need a life floaty there, dude.

The monster caught up with me. The boogeyman was firmly on me. Yeah. I mean, that's a sleep, that's a, that's a, a sleep paralysis demon. You know what I mean? Yes. I can't fucking move. Absolutely.

He's playing a fucking saxophone right in my ear. It won't stop. Sitting on your chest, playing a, playing a fucking trumpet. Yeah. Yeah. Much more aggressive. Dude, that's the worst kind of sleep demon. It's like, stop playing the goddamn trumpet.

Yeah. I knew you would love. that song man and the cue this is where we're missing you pal straight up because the little drum fills at the end the nasty little fucking tasty little fills he does on the way out just kept me interested you know i know that's a psychotic outro and i've heard it a few times now the tempo's just getting faster and faster there's stuff to pay attention to yeah and it feels like you're on a like you're on a fucking carousel that's like going faster you know it's so slowly that's true increasing you're getting dizzy and like there went the fucking seahorse it went flying yeah i better hang

out here, oh, the frog was next. Yeah, whatever. Yeah. And you can't get off, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Until you wake up, man. It's like a weird nightmare. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Until you lose that headache. It's like those weird nightmares that you have. I mean, the last, the last, the last line of the song is until my head explodes, dude, I mean, that's perfect because like he basically he's like, all right, let me, we're going to outro this out until your fucking head explodes. I don't know. I don't know where it's positioning on that record is. I don't think it's a last track. It's a very last track.

That makes sense. Which is a great. That's a good. It's a good. a perfect way to end it. Absolutely. Imagine you'd have to get up and dash over, get it off the players and you know. Yeah. I mean, so do they do that on the, on the basement session? Do they do the whole thing? Yeah, bro.

And it's, bringing the horns on shit. No, no, but they, they recreate it with a, enough of the guitar sound. Yeah,

sure, sure. They have that, that Hawaiian guitar, some people call it. It's a lap steel that Troy van Lewin, who has often slept on as a found, not a founding,

but certainly a critical member. of Queens of the Stone Age. He's been a long time member. Now, he's the slick guy that's always suited up with shades and dark hair. He's playing it. And bro, he's just fucking killing it. That sound is what makes that ominous just awesome sound, dude.

And like, that's kind of, you know, to me, that guitar is always a Western, country and Western instrument. And they hear it used in that kind of capacity. Just fucking opens a lot of doors in my head for,

for what rock and roll can be, bro. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that song, man. When we brought this episode forward, I was like,

oh, I got an ace of my sleeve. I already know one that will make everybody feel fucking at least uncomfortable. Dude, imagine, I mean, you could play that song or just loop the outro in like a haunted house or something like that. Bro,

you could probably do the whole song. It would get there. It's effective enough at the beginning. You go back and listen to it in your own time later tonight, but you're fighting off the ghosts and ghoulies. Yeah, man. I'm telling you me, that holds it on its own.

Even that outro just now was finding, you know, first few times I heard it. I was like, holy fuck, next song. Totally. Totally, totally. So what you got after that, dude? I think we're getting more into some somewhat contemporary.

We are jumping to 2005. This is Lullabies to Paralyze. Now, this is, to me, this is like the Halloween album for Queens of Sonnage. There's so many songs on here that are just creepy and like straight up about witches and stuff. You know, that's the, that's the based take, all right? But I would love to play devil's advocate and what better night than Halloween, which it really is right now. It really is. It definitely is.

It's totally Halloween. So let me play devil's advocate. Era vulgaris, bro, has some fucking creepy shit on it. I mean, it's literally titled Vulgar era. But I mean, yours is also titled Lullabies to Paralyze. And I agree, dude. I agree. Ultimately, I do agree.

Yeah, just like the imagery, the album art just looks like this. It's just this girl. It's black and orange. I mean, it's fucking Halloween colors and shit. It's fantastic. You got a song, the two songs we're bringing, burn the witch and then someone's in the wolf. You know, these are both like witch.

Wolf. I mean, you've got the classics. Yes, yeah, someone's in the wolf makes me think of like Little Red Robin Hood. Yeah. Or, you know, some kind of creepy old fable. You know, at the end of songs for the deaf, there's a song called Mosquito Song, Trave. That's a possibly a secret track, but there's a lyrical reference. I don't know if it was a reference, but they say the words, lullabies to paralyze in that song. Oh, I love it.

And that song is the last, it's a secret track, I think, maybe. or the last song on songs for the deaf. Oh, dude, I love it when bands do that kind of stuff, man. It's like a beautiful acoustic kind of vibe. Dean, the guitar player and one half of the legendary fucking weird band, Ween, who I love, who we got to do an episode on someday, because I know y'all are Wayne Virgins. Wayne, yeah, like to wane yourself off something.

He plays guitar, like 12-string guitar on its beautiful song. Anyhow, the lyrics on it, they say Lullabies to Paralyze. I think that's a reference to the next record that they come out with called Lullivize to Paralyze. Again, dude, I love it when bands do that. There's like continuity and stuff. Me too, bro. It's like, yes, like an Easter egg kind of. Yeah.

He's making a universe of like his own IP to make it, you know, like on board terms. And they're quite literally saying we're going to pick up exactly where we left off. Yes. Yes. And it clicked with me years after it had been out. Like it was a nice little Easter egg that you find and just fucking. It's just a sweet little treat, dude. It's awesome.

And that song, man, I should have brought that one because the lyrics on that one are fucked up. It's about like eating people, I think, bro. Anyhow. Shout out Mosquito song. We should fade out with that one, bro. That's going to be an outro. All right, perfect, perfect, perfect. So, yeah, anyhow, or Lullaby's a Perilizer record follows their, they're, arguably

their best and most successful record, right? Yeah, they're masterpieces. It's a masterpiece, dude. One of the best rock records of all time. It's a 10 out of 10, no doubt. Yes. So, but even Lullaby's to get slept on because it's kind of not a sophomore slump, but certainly like a slump in the way that, like, maybe, but it still had hits, all kinds

of singles and shit. So, I mean, it has Billy Gibbons, bro. Is it he on his track? Yes, he is. And there were some other, you know, we haven't talked about the saint that was Mark Lanigan. You know, I don't know a whole lot about the guy and the stuff he did on the side project, but he's like my flavor of Tom Waits, right? Yes.

It's like grunge Tom Waits. If grunge, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Kind of looks like it too. Anyhow. He's on this track. He's the first voice you're going to hear on this track. Yes, dude.

So Lullabize to Paralyze is the Halloween record for Queens of the Stone Age. If you're going to put one on front to back, I think that's the one you pick. I initially planned on just doing an episode on this record. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But all right, here we go. So, again, you just teased it there. I mean, this song is all fucking great, man. It's got Mark Lanigan on vocals, of course, Josh Homme, and then Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top plays guitar and does backing vocals on this track as well. I mean, what do we need to say? Did he know, Ham was like, holy shit when he got the studio. And it's also got, yeah, Troy Van Lewin is on the songwriting credit and Joseph Costillo.

He was the drummer at the time. He was the one that's on the basement sessions, got the Misfit shirt. He's the one that beats the shit. out of his sets. Yeah, man. Joey, I think. Anyhow, yeah, this song, fucking Billy Gibbons, dude. Yeah.

Shout out Zizi Top. Tejas forever, bro. Now, that's an episode we could fucking do, dude. That would be fun, bro. I don't think Zizi Top has fucking set foot on this podcast, man. So, oh, he's about to, I guess, in a way. Here we go. In some weird way.

Weird way. Yeah. All right, here we go. Burn the Witch. Fucking sick, dude. Killer try. I mean, I know every dad out there's going to love Billy Gibbons's fucking guitar solo on the way out because that was just clas.

Oh, yeah, and there's no mistaking it. Yeah, yeah, there's no, no mistake. And yet somehow it sounded kind of new for him. Like, it was kind of a real gross tone that he had. It was awesome, dude. Yes. And it wasn't overstayed. It was just enough on the way out.

And it didn't step on what the drums were doing for me. They're at the end, that clapping and stomping. And then. Yeah. But yet it was also like a dark lullaby because of the lyrics in the way, you know. Lullabies. It's talking about burning ash and bone. and skimming like a stone.

That's a heavy hitter for arguably, you know, Halloween, Queens of the Stone Age. Definitely. Top. Although we're going to, we're going to follow it with perhaps a better one with someone's in the wolf.

But yeah, this track seems to be about like, you know, obviously like witch trials and shit like burning witches and, you know, that kind of, that, you know,

that old ditty that happened back in the day, Salem witch trials and stuff. burning women up for, you know, reading and shit or whatever. Yeah, he sings about, you know, the person doing a lot, though, too, but talking about turning your cheek and like the truth away, what it was, I will never say, you know, probably about what it. Because that's, you know, that's over pretty quick, I'd imagine, right? Not maybe not for the witch, but man, you got to live with that what you've done, right? Bite your tongue, swear to keep your mouth shut, all the shit that's the creepiest part of the actual act, right? Like how humans actually commit to it and would do it.

And they skip like a stone while they go to do it. They'll skip along the way just because somehow you get that mob mentality. Yeah. Listen to the dude, mom right here. There they are. The mob, it cries for blood to twist the tail into firewood, fan the flames. That's a sweet. That's a sweet rhyme, dude.

That really into firewood. That's fine. That's great, man. Fan the flames with a little lie. So, yeah, basically like admitting like, yeah, I think we all fucking knew. Yeah, he knows about it first, right? You got to ask yourself, will I burn in hell? Yeah, exactly.

First, right? That's the iron you have. It's like you guys are burning these women at the stake, but y'all are going to be the ones fucking roasting, dude. You know, but then you free yourself of it because you just ride it cast into a well. Okay, now, well, whatever I can get. I'm freed of it because I did my stupid little superstitious thing, right? Now I'm exactly excused of it. Yeah, but we'll see how what your conscious feels like, you know, that evening, let alone the rest of your fucking life.

Exactly, dude. Great song. Definitely a heavy hitter. I'm so glad I was watching their live performance somewhere in Paris today on YouTube. they played that one and I was like, fuck, I hope one of the silts bring that song, dude, because it has to be on a Halloween spooking. Has to be. Queens episode, dude.

Has to be. At least the first one, the inaugural one, if there's two more. So yeah, man, take me into the next one that me and you were also going to fight over. Yes. If this was the only one we were going to do, take me into that next one. Because I listened to it a few, but then I wanted to step away because I knew you were going to handle it. Yeah, this is probably my favorite track on this record, I think. This is a top five Queen's song, I think, dude.

Definitely the best song. record for me. It's got this killer breakdown that we're going to have to listen to because they do something so fucking slick with it man. They kind of like slow it down and like it's just so fucking dope. All right, here we go. It's so good, man. All right, here we go. This is the

next track up for this record. The song is called Someone's in the Wolf. Real quick, Travis interjecting in the middle of the song here. We were so entranced by this track that I forgot to fade it. out toward the middle of the song, because if we play a song from start to finish, we are likely to get yelled at by the record label. So I am jumping in here to avoid drawing the ire

of Interscope records, which I would hate to do on Halloween night. So, all right, let's fade it back in, and then you'll hear our reaction on the other side. Blade going in, dude. The blade going in the very end. Absolutely. Holy mother. You're right. I thought headache would be the most like disorienting and like creepy sounding on the, on the total vibe of the song.

But that one by far right now has been the most kind of coherently like threatening and violent. I mean, the whole. Yeah. I mean, dude, the lyrics give me goosebumps, dude. The way the guitar sounded at the end, the way it was sped up. Yeah. Triple time from the original solo. I love how they do that, man.

It was so sharp sounding. It's, it just was just sharp. It's like blades, dude. Acute or angular does not describe it. enough for me. It's just uniquely Josh Hom or Van Lewin, whoever was on that. Right? I mean, they were like we were saying, I mean, there's dual guitars

happening here quite a bit. They're playing up each other. But yeah, man, listen to these lyrics, dude. This creepy as fuck, man. Once you're lost in twilight's blue, you don't find your way. The way finds you. All right now, first off, that alone right there can just stop. That could be enough lyrical. I'm happy enough with that

if I write that in a day. Yes, man. Okay, day's done, dude. Now it's going to see it. It's a poem, dude. That's a fucking beautiful. tempt the fates beware the smile it hides all the teeth my dear and what's behind them i mean that sounds like that's that's that's uh that's right riding yeah yeah to the wolf hiding the chorus so glad you could stay forever i mean that's creepy in its own right dude we all know what forever is yeah yeah and then here we go man he steps between the trees a crooked man there's blood on the blade don't take his hand again dude each of these verses just by themselves man are telling are telling stolen stolen

worries did. And then listen to this next one, man, you're worn by the firelight and twilight's blue. Shadows creep and dance the walls. He's creeping too. That's so good, dude. I think even, you know, I know that I know that we've heard this song, but it stands on its own and that it's just on the edge of being corny, just on the edge, right? They walk the line with this album. Even in the last song, burn the witch, you know, with the, they had Billy, fucking, anything Billy Gibbons does, it's not going to be corny. First off. I need to pay respect to the man. Amen to that, dude. To the living legend. all right but it could be could almost be like oh they're doing a Halloween thing and it's not right

or like oh they're like doing a misfits Halloween a fI something like that or a Halloween specific no it's not it's just no kind of there if you want right and it's really easy to get there reading these lyrics on this song it's it's I mean it's storytelling one like through and through like everything about it is telling the story like in that that little outro or that little um little bridge right the instrumental thing where it's like you can hear these blades being sharpened And like his vocals are like almost like these ghostly, very soft, eerie kind of vocals. The stabby sound of it going back into the sheath at the end or being drawn. I couldn't quite.

Yeah, just wicked, bro. And then like you said, man, you said in the chat, you were saying that in that instrumental outro as it's the pace is quickening and quickening. It's like, yeah, it's the chase that's happening. And then you hear the fucking blade go in. Amazing storytelling. And it stands on its own. Just the song on its own, bro.

So good, dude. The way it's performed. And I've seen them do it live on YouTube in Versions, and they just, they knock it out of the part. Yeah. I think it's, I think it's one of my favorite riffs, a guitar riff,

that riff is so fucking sick, man. Yeah, from jump. From jump, it is sick, dude. It deserves its respect. It sounds like a metal riff. It sounds like a straight up metal riff, dude.

It does, like a power metal riff. Just a shame that he wasn't here, dude. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He knows that this is, you can take the floaties off

because these are familiar depths. Yeah, I bet Queen's of the Stone Age was a lot of people's intro into metal. It might have been mine. I mean, I mean, I know I listen to Battalica and stuff, but I think Queens is like a gateway to like other types of metal, alt metal, doom metal, stoner metal, stoneer rock, all that kind of stuff.

Like it's a good stepping stone to a lot more music in the metal genre, you know? Massively, dude. Yes, I totally agree. Yes, the desert rock, stoner rock sound that they are the goats of goaded, no doubt. Yeah, that's a total gateway to other metal sound for sure, dude. And they became so fucking popular with, you know, some of their singles, dude. No one knows was a huge single. Yeah, as big as you could get.

And with good songs, bro, that hold up. They're not like, you know, like, stuck in, like, necessarily a genre or an era or a genre that's like overtly 80s or overtly grunge sounding, right? It's Queens of the Stone Age sounding. Yes. Dude, nobody sounds like him. Nobody else sounds like him. He's carved out his fucking his corner. Yeah, 100%.

So that's a good one, man. It's not our last one. Our last one's fucking awesome too, but that one is a fucking good one, dude. especially the guitar work, dude. The solos in the way, he just fucking leaves you out the end. It was an assault for sure. Yes, 100%. But no joke, man.

This turn, so, all right, we're going to jump ahead. We're going to jump ahead to Arabogaras, which is the, I believe, the next record that came out, full-length record that came out. Yeah, it is. We're staying kind of like, kind of staying every two years apart, 2007. Yeah, so not far. And I got to say, man, I think the song we picked is probably one of my other top five, Queens of the Stone Age riffs.

Yeah. When I brought it up, when I brought it up as potential material, yeah, dude. Yeah, the riff in this is so killer. You were immediately like the guitar work on, and on someone's in the wolf, you pretty much called dibs on that one. Yeah. Well, turning on the screw.

This is the first track. This is how they started the record out. And dude, it's got such a killer, simple, but so killer like guitar. It's so damn good. It's so good, dude. And the vibe on this record at first didn't stick with me, dude. It really didn't.

When it came out, I remember listening to it when it was new. It's more playful. What's funny is like even look at the, even the album art looks like these cartoon characters from like an old, old like 60, 70s cartoon. Yeah, and they're busted up light bulbs, which is used for,

you know, illicit drug use essentially. I just leave it that, you know, like it's a dark, yeah, oh yeah, man,

it's for smoking the hardest of drugs, brother. Yeah, but they're turned into like, into like PSA characters that are like, yeah. Stumpy. They had ads for that.

It was like, you know, they were ahead of the curve with that kind of throwback to the nuclear era, like PSA safety ads you have to watch some of them good I think one of them was called stumpy like fallout kind of stuff yes exactly bro it's fucking good it's a goal that's awesome but when it came out I was like what the fuck you know it didn't sync up with me right away it's a huge pivot from lullabies right I mean massive everything about it the imagery like it went from like this creepy

delivery I think casa was on a song I think it was a dark period for him I know the man had like not to be a gossip or anything but I know haam was he was running with a musician named Brody can think of her last name. She's the front woman of the distillers. And they had a, you know, a Hollywood-type relationship that ended not good, I guess. And I think in this time period, I think he might have been going through some of that shit.

So that tracks like with the kind of imagery he has on the front and what a lot of the songs, I mean, one of the songs called Six-Six-Sick. I know that was a single. So Casa Blancas was on that. He played synth guitar and vocals on Six-66. Synth guitar, bro.

Yeah. You're fucking kidding me. Yeah. He's always been to just like trying to be the coolest guy at the Goodwill, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like the motherfucker picked up the synth guitar. He showed up to a Queens of the Stone Age jam session and he brought a synth guitar, dude. I mean, they are the thrift guitar.

Maybe they had that. And they were like, just play this, Julian. And he was like, all right. Hopefully it was like that. He didn't bring it. Like, yeah, this is going to look hard. Yeah. This is going to be cool.

And if he did, well, whatever. Because that song's fucking. great too. It, I mean, it somehow would do it. Synth guitar somehow works for this, this record. Oh, yeah, dude. This one, you got to give it another listen to also, Trav. Peep the from the basement, listen to this one all the way through. If you got some chores to do someday, slap it on it. It's been a while, dude. Because I would put it against Bert, I would put it against a lullabies as a Halloween vibe over on the overall. The overall, okay. Yeah. Seriously, bro.

All right, let's wrap it up. Here we go. So this is, uh, again, the, uh, opening track to Arab Algaris, the song is called Turning on the Screw. Slick and effortless is how I would describe it at the end, you know? Even though it's not, it's complicated as fuck. That little guitar diddy, man, at the end, it's so brilliant.

Because they tease that little riff here and there throughout the song, but they, you know, they don't play it out. And then it's just like repeated relentlessly with the drums like increasing in speed and stuff like that. And then that just transitions back to the standard. It's so fucking good.

It comes back. Yeah, it's like, it's like you're, you know, you start it. You're turning, you're wrenching on the screw and you're finally getting some traction, right? So you're getting a little quicker. And then it slows down because he's fucking, you got to keep turning on that fucking screw. It's perfect, dude. It is perfect. I mean, it opens with a, with a reference to Buffalo bill about, you know.

Yeah. A lotion in the basket. There you go, man. A straight up, a straight up reference to a horror film. Yeah. What more do you need? But then the next verse, drawn inside a toilet on the wall. The world is round.

my square don't fit at all. Yeah, that's a great leader. And I look, because I can, I can relate to that. Absolutely. Even, and he just made me think of Buffalo Bill. And I'm like, am I relating to Buffalo Bill in this moment? Am I a fucking creep, right? Am I turning on the screw?

And sometimes, I mean, speaking for myself, you can be. So I don't, not saying like, I got somebody locked up in a basement in my fucking house, but there's a creepy side that it, it reaches to me. And all their songs, dude, is perfect for Halloween, man. Oh, yeah, yeah. I think just in general, like the sentiment of, you know, the world is round and my square doesn't fit. Like I think that's a, I mean, Quincy Stone Age, man, I mean, they don't fit in any box, dude. Like they're, they're so unique and they stand out on that there's nobody like him.

There will be no one ever liked them. Josh Hami, just himself, I think, is just the force behind it all. Yeah, he's the blueprint there. Yeah. Everything spawns from him, dude. for the flavor that we love. I mean, the stars aligned with, you know, with Lanigan and fucking Oliveri joining.

I mean, Dave Grohl giving them fucking traction. I mean, all that shit aligns. But this, but time has told us that the reality is that Josh Hom, dude, is what. Yes. And now the other members, too, I know that bass player, Mike, something has been in there. Mikey, something they call them. And then kind of a different ensemble of drummers, but they've all stayed for more than five, six years at a time because those guys

have been around for so long now. And Troy Van Lewin and Elaine Johans, I think is how you pronounce it. He was there for a minute. Bro, I mean, but yeah, it all links back to a fucking home, dude. Yes, man. He is the mastermind, dude. And like, I mean, we listen to just the tracks we played tonight. Like his vocal stylings, dude.

He's got such a range on him, man. Yeah. And if, you know, I would go back and listen to, and I will hear all these songs many, many more times without the, it doesn't have to be spooky season for me, bro. But when it comes on, it is choice, dude. it's there's a five there, especially when he put on like a whole, a whole record through. And I have a lot of their later stuff to go through, which I know is, is great.

Because I've seen a lot of the live stuff on YouTube. And they always pepper in newer stuff. And I'm like, oh, I didn't know that one, but now I love it. And these are records that you've got to listen to from start to finish because they're telling, they're telling a story, man. They're all themed. I mean, in this band, I mean, we always throw out Spoon's name, but, I mean, given, given enough of our own time listening to their more new stuff,

we mounted to put Queens of the Stone Age up there with, goaded American living rock band. Oh, for my speed, my flavor. Oh, yes. Yes. They are hands down. Probably the best rock band that came out in the last 30 years.

And not just a flash, dude, with like no one knows or something. You know, a lot of sets that can be the story so many times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, I mean, it doesn't get any better than Cleese those Stone Age, man.

Yeah, for sure. Well, happy freaking spooky Halloween, man. Yeah, let's fade out with that dope song, bro. It's called Mosquito Song. Mosquito song. And we're still staying, pre like 2010, man.

We hadn't fucking, we're not even close to anything that's contemporary. That's wild. It's what dude. It's fucking crazy to think about it. I know, dude. And he still,

he looks good, man. They all look good and seem healthy. I know he had a cancer scare recently, but he seemed to fight it off. I mean, Hami seems to age like a fine wine. The guy,

the guy looks shit, dude. I want a gold tooth because he has a gold tooth, bro. Straight the fuck up. I didn't know that. Oh, bro. I want a gold tooth so bad, bro.

So how do you, he just decided it's like a cap or? It's a dental. I mean, It's like a cap or a dental thing, but it's just, I mean, I'm sure it's not purely aesthetic, but even if it is, it's fucking dope. And it works on his face perfectly. It's not too pirity, you know?

It's just like slick. I think it's just fucking cool, dude. Fits his overall vibe for sure. I haven't seen one thing he's done, not one shirt, not one line he said, not one fucking song I've heard. Bro, not one interview, nothing where I'm like, yeah, man, that's, oh. Except for his name's hard to pronounce. I think I said it wrong. Aside from that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This last one's called Mosquito Song. It's dope, Trev. And dude, you want to talk about this song that's going to sound unlike anything we've played in that, dude. All right. Well, I don't know what's happening next in terms of our next episode. I'm sure you guys have a watch you coming up that I'll be patiently waiting to hear. The home episode is great.

That band's fucking awesome. Dude, I'm seeing them in May, man. Oh, hell yeah. I'm seeing him in Chicago. Oh, hell yeah. That's fucking fantastic. It's at the slideaway fest is what it's called. Is it outdoor?

No, it's in a little theater. Like, I mean, so this is like a slight, it's taking place across three different cities. So New York, L.A. and Chicago, and they're headlining all three with Chapter House and some of their band and a bunch of other, like each, each show is going to have some, like, like, Chapters is another, like iconic Shugays band from the 90s that, like, apparently hasn't played in like 15 years. Now, you use Humb to get me in the front door of a Shugays festival, you better have some fucking drink tokens or something. something for me. That's the thing. That's the thing. All right.

So Mitchie and I probably talked for another 20, 30 minutes after this. So he is one of my favorite human beings on this planet, and I could talk to him forever. I love the guy. But, you know, wanted to jump in here and wrap us up. Don't worry. You'll be hearing Mitchell in many more episodes to come. So don't you worry about that. So anyway, we're going to close out here with the mosquito song.

And once again, happy Halloween, everyone. Be safe, don't do anything stupid. And we'll talk to you guys on the next one. We got probably two more episodes until we start doing our best of 2025 four-pack. So we'll do one episode a week in December. So be on the lookout for all of that as we start to close this year out. As always, you can check us out on the Pantheon podcast. podcast network. You can reach out to us on Instagram. And hey, get us your picks for the best of

2025. What are your favorite tracks from this year? We'll listen to what you send us. And if we like it, we'll put it on our best of episodes. And we'll give you a shout out. So yeah, find us on Instagram if you want to reach out. And until next time, my name is Travis. He was Mitchell. and Quentin is, who knows what he's doing. He's probably trick-or-treating with his two beautiful children. Shout out to Ronan and River. I know the sun is hot. Mosquitoes come.

Suck your blood and leave you. Just can listen to me. To a sign.