Maniac Meat

iTunes Review

If Tobacco’s day job as the de facto frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow isn’t twisted enough for you, then his second solo album will do the trick in the deviant soundscapes department. While the wailing synths, clanging cymbals and foam-flecked disco beats of “Constellation Dirtbike Head” set the scene by lassoing us into a basement bar where only the strongest slam-dancers survive, the 14 tracks that follow are disorienting to the point of sounding like one long fevered dream. This is a good thing, especially when said dream includes gnarly Def Jam nods (the Run-DMC-like “Sweatmother”), woofer-wrecking loops (“Heavy Makeup”), and a couple of Beck cameos (the prickly pop grooves of “Fresh Hex” and the continental drift dynamics of “Grape Aerosmith,” both of which bring his scrappy Odelay days to mind). It’s not the gentlest listen in the world, but is Tobacco's latest fantastic voyage worthy of its Maniac Meat title? You bet.