I was super excited about Geocidal, mostly because it felt like the first time Patton had made interesting music in some time. So I listened to the record a bunch and gave it a very good review. And then I didn’t listen to it again. I don’t know whether that says I overrated it or just that my listening habits have drastically changed over the last half decade – they really, really have – but, either way, I haven’t found my way back.

tētēma is a full on band now, with a drum and, um, a violinist. I haven’t listed to their debut in so long I don’t know much this has actually changed their sound, but it sure seems like it from memory. It feels like a different band to me. (Again, based upon memory.) At their loudest, they’re now like one of Secret Chiefs 3’s non-metal bands playing music written for Fantomas, without any guitar, if that makes sense to you. At their quietest, I guess they resemble the early version of this group.

It’s been so long that it’s hard to compare this album to the last one, but I think this more disjointed than the previous one, it feels more schizophrenic. The tendency with Patton – and, to a lesser extent, with every charismatic front-man – is to attribute these changes to him, just as people did with Faith No More, Tomahawk, etc. But, much like with Tomahawk’s music, that’s not how this works. The music is originally made by Pateras and then Patton and the other musicians add their parts. In this case, Pateras is responsible for the final mix. It just seems like Pateras’ particular brand of musical schizophrenia is well suited to this other musical schizophrenic.

I like musical schizophrenia when it’s well executed, as it is here, and so I like this. But I can’t help but feel that their earlier album felt more unique to this group, and felt more like a cohesive statement than this does. Of course, it’s been years since I listened to that record, and so I’m based this on faint memories. But I can’t shake the feeling and the only way I would actually dispel it would be to listen to Geocidal and I just don’t have time right now.

Very much for Patton fanatics, I think. And, presumably, for fans of Pateras. But still something I thoroughly enjoy and I’m glad to see that Patton is still making interesting music when he’s not singing Romantic ballads or remaking ’80s demos.

Read both tētēma album reviews on the same page! Or, check out my very few reviews of music from 2020.