Tomahawk - s/t
(Ipecac)
Roll call: Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) on guitar, Mike Patton (Faith No
More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas) on vocals, Kevin Rutmanis (Cows, Melvins) on
bass, and John Stanier (Helmet) on drums. You want this so bad to be
good, to be great. Alas, it is merely the sum of its parts. Thus, though
it is not bad, it is not great.
It's got Denison's heavy, metallic jazz riffs. It's got Patton's
crazier-than-thou variety pack of vocal freak outs, it's got seriously low
bottom end, and it's got relentless rhythms. What it does not have is the
cohesiveness and focus of an actual band. It's the best that one can
expect from a "super-group" (of sorts) which is that they not embarrass
themselves nor squander their talents.
Because they are successful in that respect, one's reaction on first
listen is delight in the record's extreme rockitude. After that, however,
one is not quick to return to it. Because, there is nothing here that the
individual players has not done before, and done better. This fact makes
the album sound like a one-off of their combined old bag of tricks. Thus,
one's initial delight does not motivate one to spin Tomahawk again,
but, rather, to bust out all of those old records. How long has it been
since you have listened to Meantime?
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