Tobacco | Ultima II Massage [ALBUM REVIEW]

If you were to lock RJD2 in the “eighties foreign horror” section of an abandoned Blockbuster, armed only with a bag of magic mushrooms, vocoder, and drum machine powered by a motorcycle made of children’s tears, he would emerge to the sounds of “Father Sister Berzerker” triumphantly named Tobacco. Tobacco (Thomas Fec of Black Moth Super Rainbow) follows up the frenzy of Maniac Meat more focused than ever. The controlled chaos is still there, but with a more cohesive flow, and beats leaning heavier towards the current rap climate. Take “Self Tanner” or “Beast Sting,” throw a weirdo rap verse from Isaiah Toothtaker or Flatbush Zombies over it, and you’ve got a lil’ something for the kids. This is a dark album that you can’t help but want to explore again and again: like being dared to investigate a childhood basement. Ultima II Massage is the Home Alone furnace made of analog tape, vocoder, and hip hop beats, and if you can Kevin McCallister “I’m not afraid anymore” your way through it, you may just emerge with a new album to obsess over.