After almost two years and another incarnation of the band, the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. returns with a tour and a new album. I was wary upon hearing of the reformation if only because the group had showed signs of fatigue since the departure of Cotton Casino. However, it seems that the time off has served them well. Not only is this album a welcome return to form, but also some of the tracks exceed this incarnation’s past accomplishments, rivaling their past output with stylistic variations that haven’t been heard in years.
The beginning swells and builds tension before launching into “Attack From Planet Hattifatteners,” the sort of guitar assault I’ve come to expect from the group, though this one has some additional noises that add uncommon texture, especially to the ending. The next couple of songs change gears with the addition of an acoustic guitar, flutes, and vocals, which themselves are infrequent throughout the band's back catalog but are a welcome change. “Buy the Moon of Jupiter” is a rare Acid Mothers ballad while “Asimo’s Naked Breakfast: Rice and Shrine” features group chanting in addition to the lone singer. “I Wanna Be Your Bicycle Saddle,” a cacophonous shredded guitar din, shows surprising restraint in its length, which at a minute and a half is likely the shortest Acid Mothers song ever. “Interplanetary Love,” appropriately enough, contains genuinely beautiful moments with its singer supported by an acoustic guitar, drones, and mild oscillating effects. Of course it wouldn’t be an Acid Mothers album without an epic, and “The Tales of Solar Sail—Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky” is also the new long-form song added to their recent live set list. As far as their epics go, this is one for the upper tier. They use a riff based on a non-Western scale as their launching point and proceed to mesmerize. It was the highlight of the live show I attended, and is certainly a welcome addition to the album.
Although their new U.S. tour found their live show to be similar to those of the past with only a few long songs in rotation, this release has a variety of songs not heard since Absolutely Freak Out (Zap Your Mind!!) or even New Geocentric World. Not only did this album assuage my doubts about the return of the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., it made me optimistic about their future.
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