Japan's so-called noise-core movement was arguably started in the early '80s by Hijo Kaidan, K.K. Null and Merzbow but today is irrefutably led by the perverse, schizoid Boredoms, whose bombastic and chaotic delivery earmarks them as the strangest band on a major label. The group's previous U.S.released album, Pop Tatari, began with a long series of excruciating high-pitched tones, and "Acid Police," which kicks off its new disc, Chocolate Synthesizer, continues in the same contentious mode – 48 seconds of unaccompanied screaming followed by a ramshackle, metallic rhythm that could pass for the military marching theme for a cyberpunk shogun.

From there the record fragments in myriad directions, often within a single song. Dissonant pinball-machine sounds intertwine with bleating trumpets and speed-metal rhythms, and whimsical cartoon melodies are slashed and severed by maniacal howls and loose, frenetic drumbeats. Comparisons can be made to John Zorn's Naked City (of which vocalist Eye Yamatsuka is also a member) and "Lumpy Gravy"-era Frank Zappa, but the Boredoms lack the arty pretension of the elite avant-garde.

Attitudewise they have far more in common with the absurdity of Captain Beefheart or the hedonism of the Butthole Surfers. Still, the Boredoms are far more than discombobulated nihilists. For them, creation is a vital part of destruction, and for every free-jazz, heavy-metal and punk passage they gleefully deconstruct, there's a sense of sonic discovery.

Of course, that doesn't make Chocolate Synthesizer any more cohesive. "Shock City" alternates between clanking tinpan punk and sputtering trumpet-embellished free jazz; "Anarchy in the UKK" is at various moments grounded in reggae dub, carnival psychedelia and clamorous hardcore; and "B for Boredoms" starts as demented surf punk, then erupts into a rhythm that sounds vaguely like the Who's "Sparks."

Without question, the Boredoms are one of the most bizarre, adventurous bands on the planet, but for anyone who doesn't thrill to disjointed beats and cacophonous clatter, Chocolate Synthesizer may be a tough sweet to swallow. (RS 712/713)

JON WIEDERHORN