Dave Grohl is part of the trans-generational supergroup Them Crooked Vultures

When rock bands swarmed Earth 40 years ago, they seemed otherworldly — hirsute tribes clad in kaleidoscopic garb, brandishing their guitars like medieval weapons. But over time, these mongrel hordes and their misshapen songs assimilated into American culture so seamlessly, they practically vanished into the normalcy of popular music. Today, our guitar heroes reside mostly in video games.

In that sense, supergroup Them Crooked Vultures — which plays The Paramount Saturday — makes for an evocative throwback, recalling an era when riff-hurling rock troupes felt dangerous. And bizarre. And totally worth listening to.

This is a trans-generational supergroup that's earned its "super." Vultures' singer-guitarist Josh Homme leads Queens of the Stone Age; Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl reprises drummer duties from his days in Nirvana; and bassist John Paul Jones once laid the bedrock for the mighty Led Zeppelin.

The trio does not disappoint. Them Crooked Vultures' recently released self-titled debut is churning with neoclassical rock 'n' roll, summoning the heaviest qualities of Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Cream and Iron Butterfly.

And air-drummers, rejoice! With Them Crooked Vultures, Grohl cements his rep as our greatest living rock percussionist.

Jones, who helped forge the sound of heavy metal with former-greatest-living-rock-drummer John Bonham, makes an ideal partner for Grohl, as evidenced on the album's most hulking track, "Elephants." It's a tempestuous tempo-shifter, where the band's death-march riffs break into a stampede, and back again.

The album's core is truly molten. "Scumbag Blues" sits near the center of the track list, all speed and snarl. And just when the tune's riffage couldn't get any more righteous, a Clavinet lick arrives with a delightful, Stevie Wonder-inspired stutter.

The funkiness continues with "Reptiles," reanimating the jitters that Zeppelin achieved in 1971 with "The Crunge."

Jones plays a supporting role on this album, but, as with Zeppelin, these towering tunes would surely crumble without him. And while Grohl's backing vocals serve as melodic crab grass, both omnipresent and irrepressible, "Them Crooked Vultures" is largely a souped-up Queens of the Stone Age album, with Homme crooning in the same snooty, disaffected sneer that has bedraggled his previous work.

But that's OK. Even vocalizing at half-throttle, he can't suppress the instrumental heft that he and his bandmates generate — a din that deserves to flood from your speakers at the highest volume tolerable.