3 out of 5

Label: Rock-Za

Producer: Super Junky Monkey?

More of a proof-of-concept than an album, SJM’s live Cabbage EP proves, out-of-the-box, that the band can absolutely bring it in concert, with the thick guitar riffs and the aggressive bass and drum attacks here sounding album-worthy in fidelity and never once faltering for a note or beat.  But, as on album, the show is carried by vocalist Mutsumi Takahashi’s devastating range and flip-flopping of styles, the best tracks here where she’s warmed up and spitting rapid-fire rhymes (I guess) before dropping into a growl, or carrying a note through several octaves.  She’s like a Japanese, more spastic Serj (as in I-don’t-know-his-last-name-offhand-but-you-know-the-guy-from-System-of-a-Down Serj) with, frankly, more control and more ‘versions’ of her voice available for our aural enjoyment.  Cabbage has a few tracks that would pop up on the following studio recordings, but they’re presented here in a much looser sense and generally flow from the prior song into the next, so even the repeats are worth a listen.  But capturing the material live and allowing for that natural pacing does expose one of the issues with the group – that their sound, which nabs from funky Chili Peppers and the metal leanings of something like Faith No More with a youthful dash of classic 70s metal mixed in – doesn’t vary too much.  On album, this was broken up with sequencing and mixing in some under 60-second rockers between expansive 8-minute pace-shifting epics; Cabbage is looser, starting with a basic warmup track (standard riff, standard singing) of ‘Matador’ that gets the band ready for a couple quick jokey blasts before launching into a cluster of tracks – ‘Show Your Self,’ ‘Shower,’ and ‘Faster’ – which showcase everything Monkey is capable of – blistering rock, Mutsumi’s freakouts, a head-bobbing beat – while sifting through the weird blend of silly and frightening moods portrayed through the mixed-language lyrics.  This package of tracks is just as good as anything later produced, though ‘Faster’ seamlessly blends into a less-enthused take of ‘Popo Bar’, which starts the outro section of the disc.

In a way, ‘Cabbage’ is an easier repeat listen than ‘Screw Up’ or ‘Parasitic People’ as it’s more concise and follows a set build-and-release of energy, but it lacks the immediate ‘wow’ factor of those discs for the same reason.  Not where I would start for a new listener, but being both a live disc and sharing some repeat tracks, ‘Cabbage’ is no throwaway, nor is it just a rough preview of what was to come.  This was a polished band from the get-go.  For those who wish there was more SJM output in general, it’s definitely a worthwhile find.