Tomahawk ★★★ Tonic Immobility IPECAC. CD/DL/LP

Mike Patton’s underground supergroup celebrate 20th anniversary with fifth LP. Within the spectrum of Mike Patton’s output – from the scabrous mutant-rock of Faith No More, through the baroque pop of Fantomas, to the acid pastiches of Mr Bungle – Tomahawk have vented his bile as bluntly as possible. Also numbering Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison and Battles/Helmet drummer John Stanier, their first new album in eight years is a characteristically unfriendly thing, rhythmically terse and bristling with ultraviolence. There’s precious little subtlety, but plenty of brutish hooks, and Tonic Immobility is often satisfyingly brawny fun. Business Casual, a sledgehammer satire railing at a “goose-stepping” “whiskey-dick” “mafia man”, perfectly marries the sinister prowl of classic Jesus Lizard with Patton’s theatrical venom, while Predators And Scavengers evokes the helterskelter hurtle of late-period Black Flag. Patton’s ever-present appreciation for the absurd lends an acerbic edge, leavening his group’s wall-towall mêlée.

Stevie Chick