- Released: 2009
- Origin: Osaka, Japan
- Label: Prophase
- Best Track: Wired Stinky Pussy Luver
I have a poster from an Acid Mothers Temple tour of 2012 hung up in my house. My wife bought it simply because she liked the poster, but neither of us have ever bothered to listen to the band. It’s time I did!
The problem is, I quickly realised it’s difficult to know where to start with this band. According to Wikipedia, in all their guises, AMT have released a ridiculous 94 studio albums. Which one do you go for first? I decided to just follow Apple Music’s ‘Essential Album’ suggestion and give the 2009 album Are We Experimental? a whirl.
You can tell from the artwork and album titles that this is going to be psychedelic and unconventional. Even so, I wasn’t really ready for it. Tracks have little regard for melody or rhythm, sitting somewhere between neo-psychedelia and the frightening noise rock of their compatriots like Boredoms.
Some of the most avant-garde moments are the record’s highlights, like the awfully titled ‘Wired Stinky Pussy Luver’, which has that discombobulating aura of the Butthole Surfers at the their weirdest.
At other times, the overriding effect of the jarring, dissonant din and somewhat improvisational approach is that tracks just sound annoying. Take ‘Goodbye Big Asshole Emmanuelle’, which is penetrated by this loud, ear-piercing buzz. Not an easy listen!
To answer the album’s title, yes they are – probably a little too much so for my liking! But I have to admire the scale of their output, and its individuality.
