If you’re browsing through the aisles of your local music shop, you might not stop in front of the ‘Q’ section, but there’s a disc there that deserves your attention. Nothing about the album cover for “Lullabies to Paralyze,” Queens of the Stone Age’s new album, strikes the eye as interesting. In fact, the shoddy design may deter you from purchasing this fantastic album, but don’t judge this book by its cover. Once you tear through that plastic wrapper and manage to get through the madness-inducing sticky strip, you’ll be happy you went through the trouble.

The hits keep on coming for Queens of the Stone Age, a project almost completely controlled by Josh Homme, the guitarist and vocalist for the band. “Little Sister,” the seventh track on the new album, has already received quite a bit of airplay on local radio stations.

Queens of the Stone Age hit success in 2002 with their album “Songs for the Deaf,” which you may remember hearing on the radio as well. “Lullabies” tracks like “Burn the Witch” and “Someone’s in the Wolf” musically represent their 2002 release, while “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…” injects a new, bluesy style into their hard rock roots. Shirley Manson of the band Garbage and Brody Dalle from the Distillers provide sultry backup vocals on the track.

The new feel of this album may stem from the departure of QotSA’s bass player, Nick Olivieri, who was removed from the band in February 2004. Although the energy that is mostly associated with Olivieri’s enthusiasm remains in the music, Alain Johannes has stepped up to the bass, keeping up with the mighty riffs that twist throughout the entire album.

The whole album feels like a creepy, down-in-the-swamp groove. It’s kind of jazzy, kind of rockin’, and kind of nothing you could ever explain. Queens of the Stone Age rock it out again with “Lullabies to Paralyze,” and they do it with style.