Photo Credit: Danny Clinch
We should begin by asking the obvious question: “Who’s playing drums?” After all, the Foo Fighters did experience the death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins last year, who not only appeared on the band’s last eight studio albums but emerged as the very heart of the band. So much so, that it was initially unclear that the Foo Fighters would even continue in his absence. They have, and despite Hawkins’ passing, we’re the better for it. In fact, on their eleventh studio album, But Here We Are (the title suggests the idea of rising above misfortune, not necessarily just Hawkins’ death), the band, and especially lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Grohl, comes off as more determined to prove themselves than they have been in years or even decades.
But back to the original question: While veteran drummer John Freese (formally of Guns n’ Roses, A Perfect Circle, and countless other noted bands) has been announced as the permanent stickman for the Foo Fighters, it’s Grohl who plays all the drums on But Here We Are, just as he did on the band’s self-titled debut album back in 1995. Suggesting that this alone means that But Here We Are is a return to the band’s roots would probably be too obvious. But also perhaps inaccurate, since while the album is definitely classic Foo Fighters, the band also sounds like one which is indeed evolving, even after three decades. Grohl and the band get right into it on “Rescued,” which is distinctly and unmistakably a Foos track, opening with an almost tinny-sounding guitar riff before rocking out. “I’m just waiting to be rescued.. // We’re all just waiting to be rescued tonight.”
While the Foo Fighters have always exhibited a noticeable Beatles influence, Grohl’s personal friendship with Paul McCartney has definitely affected the younger musician. This is apparent on both “The Glass,” which echoes Macca’s compositions for The White Album (and the plain cover of this one is a further connection), as well as “Beyond Me.” The best and most unexpected surprise on the album comes in the form of “Show Me How,” a mid-tempo that finds Grohl harmonizing with his seventeen-year-old daughter Violet. This is the first time in the band’s history that a female vocalist has been prominently featured on a Foo Fighters track, but this is no exercise in nepotism, as the younger Grohl exhibits a soft but memorable vocal ability suggesting she very much has her own successful career to look ahead to.
That song features the refrain, “Where are you now? // Who will show me how?” This is one of several lyrics on the album which may or may not be about Taylor Hawkins, along with those on “Hearing Voices” (“I’ve been hearing voices now // None of them are you”). Grohl keeps such references to the late band member ambiguous, which is another aspect of this album that is very well-balanced. “Rest” is the perfect closer for the album. Clearly a nod to the ’90s alternative from which both Grohl and the band originally came, the song starts with a quiet, grainy acoustic guitar before rocking out hard in an almost magnified version of the loud-soft sound which characterized Nirvana when Grohl was in that band.
Grohl’s drumming ability – as can be heard on this album – hasn’t lost a single beat since those days, and while Hawkins can never truly be replaced it’s refreshing that the band can both stay true to themselves and undergo a self-rebirth. The band’s best record in over a decade and possibly one of the best of their entire career, But Here We Are is a great place for fans of the Foo Fighters, or rock in general, to be.
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