Josh Homme and Scott Reeder sue Kyuss Lives! for using band's name without permission

Triumphant as its rise from the ashes of ’90s stoner-rock band Kyuss may have been, Kyuss Lives! may cease to do so very soon: Former Kyuss mumbers Josh Homme and Scott Reeder have filed a lawsuit against former Kyuss vocalist John Garcia and Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork for using the now-defunct band’s name without permission.

According to a statement by Homme and Reeder, the former bandmates had begun talks earlier this winter to negotiate the active musicians’ use of the name, but the news only surfaced recently that the ex-bandmembers weren’t all in agreement.

Homme and Reeder are suing for consumer fraud and trademark infringement, and admitted in a statement that the situation “sucks.” “With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully,” they stated. “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.”

Fellow Kyuss alum Nick Oliveri, meanwhile, has his hands full at present with his own legal woes: The former Kyuss bassist, who went on to join Josh Homme in Queens Of The Stone Age, faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of domestic violence, possession of substances and a firearm, and resistance, obstruction, or delay of a police officer. [via Spin]