(Ghostly International)On paper,the Pennsylvania producer Tobacco reads noteworthy: a blend of Animal Collective’s seven-dwarf work songs, Madlibs distracted hip-hop production and John Maus’s outsider pop, and all wrapped in the raunchy fuzz of psychedelic rock. There’s even the plod of 80s video-game soundtracks on Home Invasionaries,and neat production flourishes abound, such as the plumes of noise on Human Om or the blurts of another track taped over sections of Let’s Get Worn Away. But his constipated rhythms are built from funk-free blocks of fibre, and the songwriting is destitute – melodies are like puppies at a training class,either irritatingly restive or wandering off entirely. You need stout dollops of generosity to accept that the many one-to-two-minute tracks here are anything more than sketches, but even whether you’re willing, or the likes of Wipeth Out and Dimensional Hum are still horrible – and worst of all,conservatively so. The whole endeavour feels destined for the bargain bin.
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Source: theguardian.com