Ultima II Massage, the latest full-length from Tom Fec's Tobacco project, finds the Black Moth Super Rainbow frontman moving from the gently corroded Technicolor psych-prog of 2010’s Maniac Meat to a full-on barrage of wobbling, low-end-heavy bizarro pop. Fec’s work as Tobacco is frequently approached as a dichotomy of beauty and ugliness; on Ultima's front half*,* the "ugly" quotient has been ramped up to match the project's warped, grotty imagery.
The album's standouts signify an evolved sound. Obscene, rowdy, and fun, “Eruption (Gonna Get My Hair Cut At The End of the Summer)” is aggro-R&B cut with a dose of Minneapolis funk, while album opener “Streaker”, which features Beck collaborator Brian LeBarton, is grindhouse glam rock with heavy artillery. Fec claims in a press release that Ultima II Massage is the “definitive end” to his conceptual aims, and he ends up with a zombified mix of Marc Bolan and Prince doused in the industrial scuzz and slime of Tobacco’s customary sonics and executed with puerile glee.
Lyrically, Ultima II Massage is in line with previous Tobacco efforts. Fec is, in his own way, a sensual songwriter, his lyrics are calculated for visceral impact—so there’s plenty of material about popsicles, ejaculation, and fruit, naturally, along with various skin-crawling ephemera. Obscenity is applied liberally, moreso than on past releases; Fec has said that Tobacco's associated imagery draws inspiration from a pre-pubescent mindset, and here he possesses all the excitement of a kid who’s just discovered the full power of the word “motherfucker” for the first time.
Ultima*’s* less gentle tracks are a welcome evolution in Tobacco's music, but the old, swooning BMSR sound--scarred, melodic music that sounds as if it’s just starting to rot--pops up now and again. Occasionally, Fec finds a sweet spot between the two poles, an approach that's crystallized on the violently saccharine “Lipstick Destroyer”. “Creaming for Beginners”, meanwhile, is a heavily distorted ballad with a blistering, slow-burning melody.
Overall, though, Fec doesn't always achieve that balance, so there's several mid-album cuts here that jog in place despite their inherent prettiness, speaking to the album's uneven momentum as a whole. While Ultima II Massage starts off with material that's heavier and meaner than anything he’s done previously, the lighter sound of the album's back half can't help but come across as a drop in ambition, turning down the volume on what could've been the most dynamic Tobacco record to date.
