 OK,
we're cheating a bit here. Z-Rock Hawaii is not wholly a Japanese rock
release: it's a collaboration between the American infantile
jesters/geniuses Ween, and the Boredoms. We're also, admittedly, a
little Boredoms crazy at the moment: this is our third Bo-based review
in the last month. But hey, why not ride the wave and shine the light
on one of the most baffling, challenging, and overlooked releases in
both legendary bands' catalogs? After all, it's hard to imagine anyone
disliking Z-Rock Hawaii (or at least, anyone who would be interested in
any project involving the personnel.) But it's also one of the WEIRDEST
releases that any of these people have put their name to, a spastically
uneven, ludicrously disjointed, utterly hilarious, and yes, catchy collection of songs that defies pretty much any sort of explanation one might hazard to foist upon its 11 tracks.
I remember telling a friend of mine about this record, and his reaction was one of incredulity: "JESUS. Does it sound
like anything?" Hell yes, it does, but it's not the sound that makes it
remarkable. The truly amazing thing about it is that it runs screaming
to the very limits of coherence, teetering on the edge, yet never goes
over. Every track is beautifully self contained, arranging its laundry
list of bullshit into severely twisted but immediately accessible
forms: "Piledriver" is, like the title suggests, a testosterone
saturated metal jam turned up to eleven, eventually overdosing on its
bravado and becoming a muffled, industrial dirge. There's no poetic
license in that description at all: both elements of the song project
the essence and immediacy of their style, even in their highly
distorted state. "In The Garden" is instantly recognizable as cocktail
jazz, but mashed, buried, and mangled to the extreme. It's truly
impressive how completely ridiculous things get, yet still remain
clearly identifiable.
Which isn't to say the whole thing is a genre goof. "God In My Bed" is
a darkly sinister pastiche of funeral trumpet, Druid chants, and
"Maggot Brain" style pronouncements from on high, whipping up an
genuinely unsettling atmosphere. "You want me to tell you how my day
was? God was on my bed when I got home! That's how my day was."
Ridiculous as it is, it's...convincing. "Tuchus"...well, it's hard to
say exactly what "Tuchus" is. Boredoms mainman eYe makes creepy cooing
baby noises as the Ween boys sing a sea chantey underwater, amidst
electronic farting noises and backwards noise. It just kind of drifts
along, content with its sonic stew, ending when it feels like it.
Through it all are calmly tossed off spoken word interjections,
sounding like they're coming from an old Jewish man, all revolving
around the word "Tuchus." "Tuchus. You got a nice tuchus. I like your
tuchus. Nice tuchus. Everybody's got a tuchus. Touch my tuchus."
Which brings up the next point: Z-Rock Hawaii is HILARIOUS. While there
are unsettling moments, like the aforementioned "God In My Bed," the
majority is absolutely hysterical. Recent Boredoms material has been so
glowingly, spiritually transcendent that it's been easy to forget what
smart asses they were: this is a band, after all, whose first EP
consisted of three songs, all incorporating the word "anal."
Ironically, this is most apparent on the two most straightforward tracks
on the album: "Bad To The Bone" (yes, that one) is a deadly straight
cover, and a pretty good one, with eYe's trademark freaked out yapping
injected at strategic points for maximum impact. That gets a chuckle,
but it can't hold a candle to "I Get A Little Taste Of You," which is
possibly the most hilarious single track that either of these bands
have released (which is really...REALLY saying something.) A gentle,
frisky tune that could fit right in on the Lawrence Welk show skips
along brightly, with eYe's screamingly inappropriate barking jumping in
where the accordion solo should be. It's the musical equivalent of
starting a food fight in church.
Once the surface hilarity dies down, as it always must, what lingers is
the singularly amazing fact that these two icons of insanity somehow
managed to not work together so much as fuse,
creating a genuinely original, balanced unit from two very distinct
pieces. The Ween sound may dominate slightly at first blush. due to the
boys taking the lions share of the (coherent) vocals, but the music is
clearly the kind of sonic splatter that made the Osaka group
(in)famous. My friend's question...does it soundlike
anything?...is a valid one, since it's easy to imagine these two
tearing each other apart with their cracked energy. That they somehow
managed to not only coalesce, but harness the resulting chaos is
nothing
short of incredible. Z-Rock Hawaii is fated to be a footnote, an
afterthought for two of the most original and bizarre catalogs of the
last 20 years. It's a pity, since it stands on its own beautifully, a
demented whirlwind of humor and deeply creative sounds that deserve
wider recognition.
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The album is unfortunately out of print as of this writing, although there are some listings through Amazon US.
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