PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone. The words are emblazoned on the album cover in crudely painted scrawl as a warning sign, as if to say “beyond here there be some weird shit”. We have learned not to be fooled by his long residency with The Red Hot Chili Peppers: guitarist/singer/songwriter John Frusciante is one trippy cat. If you have mistakenly wandered into this album expecting to hear an 'Under The Bridge' or 'Scar Tissue' turn away and run. This time around he is indulging his electro freak persona and the strange is turned up to 11 rather than the guitars. It is a crash course in experimental electronics and it yields some amusing results that are bound to draw in some as it turns others away.
Guitars are certainly present but they
rarely take center stage. Instead we are treated to an assortment of
booming bass synths, buzzing keyboards, drum machines, and banks upon
banks of effects peddles. Here and there, among all of this, nuggets
of his sharp pop mind surface. Behold the gorgeous mumbled harmonies
of 'Ratiug' (hint: read it backwards) and the tasteful use of Wu-Tang
affiliate Kinetic 9 to punch up the finale. The funky beat that
slides into the last 30 seconds of closing track 'Sum' is a genius
stroke that teases before shutting up completely. Some of these
concepts are simply too unwieldy to execute; others are all the more
endearing for existing in spite of that. On the surface 'Uprane' is
just a jumble of acid-damaged trip hop, but there is actually a
coherent song buried under all that noise. 'Bike' collapses into
mountains of avant jazz and break beats and becomes entirely
incomprehensible. These compositions are volatile but Frusciante's
knack both for the abstract and the beautiful make it work far more
often than it falters.
I don't usually write about bonus
tracks on albums unless I consider them of particular importance to
said album. That is the case here with an A Capella version of
'Ratiug' and 'Walls & Doors'. The former will honestly make some
people leap for the fast forward button. It is exactly what it says
it is: one of the album's best track stripped of its guitars and
inherent funkiness but you cannot deny that he has a heavenly voice.
The latter was released to the public a few weeks before the album
dropped. It really has no need to exist outside of the main album
tracks as it would fit in seamlessly. It turns out he found a way to
fuse prog rock with drum and bass.
If nothing else, PBX Funicular
Intaglio Zone serves as a reminder of the power of unbridled
creativity. John Frusciante has not held back an ounce in the
creation of this album and that alone would be worthy of our
attention. The fact that it has some moments of absolute brilliance
in it is just a bonus to the listener.
Rating: B+
Recommended tracks: Ratiug, Sum
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