4 out of 5

Label: Sony Records

Produced by: Ron St. Germain, Super Junky Monkey

After some guitar bombast on Introduction, Keiko kicks off ‘The Words’ with a thrashy skater riff, Matsudaaahh!! and Shinobu Kawai backing her with some pitter-patter drumming and a supportive bass.  Then: Keiko and Kawai kick the beat into Primus funk, and Mutsumi takes over with her awesomely guttural, emotive shout/yell.  At points over the six+ minutes of the song, we’ll get shades of other 90s pseudo-metal outfits, roped in with a kind of loose but precise energy that lets the track swell but circle back to its core funkiness, emoted over by Mutsumi.

There’s a live video of SJM’s A.I.E.T.O.H. that, whether in jest or not, has some prim and proper adults looking on in shock as fans storm the stage during a cacophonous performance.  While the group’s sounds – stepping into classic thrash, or further into funk, or punk, or a kind of proto-rap metal – aren’t necessarily unique, the weird swill they make of all of it is, and the undeniable passion of every member’s contributions – but maybe especially that lovely snarl of Mutsumi’s – supercedes all comparisons and sets the band in a true league of their own.  Though you might not be experiencing it live – as in that video – I feel like that experience is inherent: every time I put on the disc, I get that little thrill of wondering how the heck this group existed; they’re groovy, and they’re funky, but they’re also weird and frikkin’ noisy.

Parasitic People is maybe a bit too expansive: its 15 tracks frequently dip into the well of funky metal that The Words offers, and the interesting ideas of tracks like Gokai, skipping between noisy wanderings and sudden outburts of jamming, get lost between these longer songs, but the expansiveness is also part of the deal: that the group keeps up that level of intensity throughout the whole thing.  And then there are those songs that just stand apart: the tweaked poppy hip-hop of the title track, or the mish-mash awesomeness of New Song.

It’s a toss-up between Parasitic People and Screw Up as to which album is better.  Both share a lot of similar sounds, but People is maybe just a tad more dialed in and aggressive.  Either way, it’s a thrilling, energized experience.