JOSH HOMME & SCOTT REEDER SUE KYUSS LIVES!

I think that most people in their right mind thought that having a Kyuss almost-reunion without Josh Homme and calling it Kyuss Lives! was a lame idea, but it turns out, it may also be unlawful. Over the weekend, Josh Homme and Scott Reeder — inarguably the two most well-known members of the original Kyuss not to be involved in the pseudo-reunion — filed a federal lawsuit against their former bandmates/current Kyuss Lives! masterminds John Garcia and Brant Bjork, claiming that the duo are engaging in trademark infringement and consumer fraud. Homme and Reeder even released a statement in which they claimed they have previously attempted to settle the matter amicably:

“It sucks. To think we went to a meeting in January solely to help them with their request to continue Kyuss Lives! With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, Kyuss Lives! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name Kyuss.

“This is desperately what we were trying to avoid. It’s a sad day for us and for John – but most of all for the fans. What a needless mess.”

Reeder later added, “I didn’t have much of a choice: lose all of the rights in two weeks, or keep them forever.”

Now, there’s a two things I think are worth noting here:

• Reeder actually played with Kyuss Lives! a few times last year, after Nick Oliveri found himself, um, preoccupied with other matters. You do kinda hafta wonder why this wasn’t settled at that time, although it is conceivable that Reeder decided to proceed “in good faith,” as the saying goes — in other words, that while there wasn’t time to do the negotiations then, he joined the band with the understanding that he would, eventually, get the terms he deserved. That kind of thing happens sometimes, although there’s obviously some risk involved.
• Oliveri isn’t named in the lawsuit. This would seem to suggest that he is now officially 200% not a part of Kyuss Lives!, regardless of whether or not he’s proven innocent for his alleged crimes. But who knows, maybe there’s some other reason he isn’t named.

ANYWAY, my suspicion is that this will be settled out of court; it sounds like Homme and Reeder have no problem with the “Kyuss Lives!” moniker so long as they get a cut, and the cut that Garcia and Bjork offered wasn’t to their liking. Still, you have to wonder what this means for the future of Kyuss Lives!, who were even considering recording a new album. Without the involvement of Homme, Oliveri, or Reeder, I can’t imagine that many fans will care enough to turn out for Garcia and Bjork alone. I mean, I guess they could get Chris Cockrell in the band, but I don’t think it will do much for their ticket sales, do you?

-AR