With their riff-heavy hard rock, California’s Queens of the Stone Age have become torchbearers for the brand of distorted, head-banging rock popularized by bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters. 2013’s …Like Clockwork – their first album in six years – proved that time had not mellowed their hard-edged sound, earning praise from critics for its thrashing intensity and landing the band their first No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. Tracks like “My God Is the Sun” and “I Sat by the Ocean” showcased their bridling ferocity and worked their way up the Alternative Songs chart, leaving little doubt that QOTSA are as on top of their game as ever. Founded in Palm Desert in the late ‘90s, the band would release several albums before teaming up with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters on 2002’s hugely successful Songs for the Deaf, which earned the band their first Grammy nomination for hit single “No One Knows.” On tour in 2013, the band has been taking ticket buyers by storm with their muscular sound and their visually stunning live concerts.