Desert Sessions - Crawl Home

Since the new PJ Harvey/John Parish album came out last week I felt the urge to dig this out to check out a previous collaboration of Ms. Harvey’s. Back around 2000 I was heavily into Queens of the Stone Age and had all the Desert Sessions stuff, but by 2003 my interest had waned, so I never picked up Desert Sessions Vol.9-10. However, I couldn’t turn my nose up at this 7”, although I have failed to listen to it even once. So, let’s give it a go.

Well, first impressions are that this is not the Desert Sessions that I know. For a start, although everyone knew Josh Homme was the main man and extensive credits were given for each track, through volumes 1-8 there was a mystique and the players enjoyed a sort of anonymity. They got together away from their full-time bands, made some off-the-cuff music, and put it out there. But by 2003 this previously supposedly loose project is a far more considered affair. The very concept of a single tells us this, but that isn’t where it ends, oh no; we have a promo video, appearances on TV shows such as Jools Holland, and the backing of Island Records and Universal. A lot of the usual suspects have gone missing; people like Pete Stahl, the guys from Fatso Jetson, Fred Drake, and Nick Oliveri - basically most of the desert/stoner rock guys. In their stead we get more commercial rock names like Dean Ween, Dave Grohl, Josh Freese and Jeordie White (the former Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson fame). And of course, the jewel in the crown: PJ Harvey. Now, not to rag on PJ Harvey, but there just seems something cynical about taking the biggest and best-known name in the big ol’ session melting pot and releasing her track as a single, putting her photo front and centre on the single sleeve and featuring her heavily on the campaign trail and in the video.


Promotional photos from the time reduce the collective to two key members:


So, none of this feels like Desert Sessions. It feels like some other Josh Homme project. Maybe they should have just called it ‘Josh Homme & PJ Harvey’ since that is clearly what they’d have preferred it to be and have gone ahead and marketed it as. The music isn’t the weird, spacey rock of previous Desert Sessions, but a more slickly produced, mainstream rock record. Not that’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that it ain’t really Desert Sessions.

Harvey gets top billing in the writing credits for ‘Crawl Home’ along with Homme and most of the other players and it’s a fairly enjoyable breathy rock-romp, but not too memorable.

Of real interest here, and in true major-label fashion, is the non-album B-side ‘The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore.’ Written by Harvey and originally released on her 2000 Mercury Prize-winning album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, the version here is basically just Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen covering it to good effect. Hearing it performed with a male vocal (Homme) provides a nice counterpart to the original. Any big PJ Harvey fans would probably get a nice reward out of tracking this one down.

That said, a quick search of eBay throws up a $50 price tag for this record!!! Crazy. There’s no mention of it on either wikipedia or the official Desert Sessions website, so I guess this one crawled out and crept off. There seem to be reports of a Best of The Desert Sessions, followed by brand new Desert Sessions 11 & 12 due for release this very month! However, Josh does have a habit of talking up reissues, box sets and the like that never see the light of day and since Ipecac Recordings’ website gives no mention of this it looks like you wouldn’t want to hold your breath on this one.