TOMAHAWK
Let’s forego all the usual stuff about Patton’s prowess as frontman / vocalist extraordinaire / nutjob and how his mere presence on an album means that it’s going to be better than good because this isn’t Patton’s band. This is a freaking supergroup! With a super line-up and super songs! Yee haw! Despite Tomahawk being Duane Denison’s baby, their debut, for most, was an ersatz Faith No More release; with Mit Gas, they got darker and the band’s own identity – though staring everyone in the face on the debut – was fully acknowledged; and then, as if they weren’t weird enough already, ‘Anonymous’ saw them delving deep into obscure Native American tribal music. Yep, Tomahawk are a problem; you just can’t pin ‘em down. And that’s not about to change with ‘Oddfellows’. And why should it?
Patton does his sniffing-around-in-the-dust-and-dirt bit on the mic as well as his wailing away like a siren bit and his Vegas crooner; Denison spits out plenty of erratic riffs and unearthly noises from his wood-with-strings device; Stanier is still the machine, that infallible automaton capable of knocking down walls with a snare hit and tickling your fancy with a gentle hi-hat stroke; and then there’s Trevor Dunn. Yep, that bastard of the bottom end has filled the vacancy left open since Mit Gas and done an incredible job. And the production makes it all sound live. The opening title track and ‘Stone Letter’ are pretty much a recap, as if to remind the darling listener who Tomahawk were, and then they go off on one. Well, not just one; many. There’s swing, there’s jazz, there’s rock – even that of the alternative type, whatever that is – there’s horror, disgust, dread, perversity, oddity upon oddity, and there’s that persistent feeling that you’ve missed something and so feel compelled to return to it time and again. This isn’t an immediate album; you’ve got to give it time. But do so and all of its treasures shall be yours. It’s just a shame the artwork is pretty naff…
Patton does his sniffing-around-in-the-dust-and-dirt bit on the mic as well as his wailing away like a siren bit and his Vegas crooner; Denison spits out plenty of erratic riffs and unearthly noises from his wood-with-strings device; Stanier is still the machine, that infallible automaton capable of knocking down walls with a snare hit and tickling your fancy with a gentle hi-hat stroke; and then there’s Trevor Dunn. Yep, that bastard of the bottom end has filled the vacancy left open since Mit Gas and done an incredible job. And the production makes it all sound live. The opening title track and ‘Stone Letter’ are pretty much a recap, as if to remind the darling listener who Tomahawk were, and then they go off on one. Well, not just one; many. There’s swing, there’s jazz, there’s rock – even that of the alternative type, whatever that is – there’s horror, disgust, dread, perversity, oddity upon oddity, and there’s that persistent feeling that you’ve missed something and so feel compelled to return to it time and again. This isn’t an immediate album; you’ve got to give it time. But do so and all of its treasures shall be yours. It’s just a shame the artwork is pretty naff…
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Ipecac
Album
ODDFELLOWS
Review by Jason Guest
RUNNING TIME:
42:00
RELEASE DATE:
28th Jan 2013
TRACK LISTING
1) Oddfellows; 2) Stone Letter
3) I.O.U.; 4) White Hats/Black Hats
5) A Thousand Eyes
6) Rise Up Dirty Waters
7) The Quiet Few
8) I Can Almost See Them
9) South Paw
10) Choke Neck
11) Waratorium
12) Baby Let's Play
13) Typhoon
3) I.O.U.; 4) White Hats/Black Hats
5) A Thousand Eyes
6) Rise Up Dirty Waters
7) The Quiet Few
8) I Can Almost See Them
9) South Paw
10) Choke Neck
11) Waratorium
12) Baby Let's Play
13) Typhoon
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
USA
"There’s swing, there’s jazz, there’s rock – even that of the alternative type, whatever that is – there’s horror, disgust, dread, perversity, oddity upon oddity, and there’s that persistent feeling that you’ve missed something and so feel compelled to return to it time and again."
