Tomahawk – Oddfellows

Six years after the release of “Anonymous” and it’s native american inspirations which seemed coherent with the band’s name but not with their short discography, Tomahawk come back with an album dressed in a toony look design Ivan Brunetti, and a new bass player well known to the services called trevor Dunn. Back with a new album called  Odd Fellows – the first masonic lodges in the US – let’s se what the band has bee up to.

For those who don’t have a clue, Tomahawk is the ninth music project of Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr Bngle, Fantomas, etc…) with Duane Denison (guitarist of Jesus Lizard, member of U.S.S.A. and tour companion of Hank William III(, John Stanler (drummer of Helmet and Battles) and now Trevor Dunn (founder of Mr. Bungle, Fantomas etc…). That’s a hell of a resume!

The music may be not oriented towards a series of pure masterpieces but I always found a real pleasure in the orientation towards the source of the project. A rock sealed by the 90’s, without falling in a mimic or in crazy experimentations which must be precious for most of the members

Like all the other projects of Patton, Odd Fellows has all the crazy vocals with the typical vocal trademark we all know of him. Nothing new in here.

It would be a lie that we don’t feel the will of presence and erosional space of every musician in the compositions as their positive influences. Dunn’s bass, more discrete than other projects knows haw to be captive (Waratorium or Rise Up Dirty Waters seem taken out of Mr Bungle’s California), inspiring rising riffs of Denison (Oddfellows, The Quiet Few) or the fucking amazing hits on Stanler in the back!

But what makes Tomahawk interesting but today has it’s minus. All these talents are somehow pushed in the back by the omnipresence of Patton, sometimes hiding the music play of the others. The presence of Trevor Dunn giving more the impression of a musical deja vu like they are both standing on the ashes of ancient projects. The only minus though

Don’t be misguided, Odd Fellows is an album in the line of the previous album and in an evolving path. Their sound in general is more tight, mature and it seem the more close to find a final id. In the end we talk about some hell of musicians!