Max Kutner's "Rogue Lash"

I first encountered NYC-based guitarist Max Kutner playing with the Grandmothers of Invention at the Kessler back in...was it 2014? Since then, he's toured with the last incarnation of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and released a handful of recordings that got a lot of spins around mi casa: two pandemic era albums with Android Trio (featuring fellow Magic Band alumni Andy Niven and Eric Klerks), and two on his own -- 2022's High Flavors and 2024's Partial Custody. Discerning listeners in Dallas and Houston were fortunate to get to hear the material from the latter release live, on a mini-tour of Texas.

Kutner's latest, Rogue Lash -- a digital-only release, out February 27 on Orenda -- comes on the heels of a long break from performing. Recorded, mixed, and mastered at home, the album recalls Frank Zappa's late masterwork Civilization, Phaze III in the way it foregrounds Kutner-the-composer's intent, as well as its icy, synthetic sound. Drawing on influences from industrial, EDM, and hip-hop as well as metal and prog, the one-man-band/composer-producer creates a different sound world for each track, seamlessly incorporating elements of sound design that reflect his critique of contemporary society in general and life in the Big Apple in particular, and organic elements that include the contributions of a platoon of collaborators from LA, Oakland, Portland, Boston, and NYC.

Rogue Lash is a testament to the level of musical complexity that can be documented in a home recording, and titles like "Waves of Middle Managers (Marching)" and "Navigating the Nepomatrix" show Kutner continuing the kind of scabrous social commentary Zappa was known for throughout his career. But the album revels in repetition and deep groove, and can be fully enjoyed without reference to its programmatic content. Perhaps the best example of this is "Pency Tracer," which features Colin Woodford on drums and metal objects, and left me with an inexplicable desire to re-watch old B&W films like Keeper of the Flame and Bad Day at Black Rock. "The Flying Lesson" is a dense, doom-laden crash-and-thump fest that reunites Kutner with his Evil Genius bandmate Mike Lockwood. 

The "single," "Stardust Apes," mocks Muskian off-world ambitions with mechanistic melody, replete with strings, horns (including a cameo by Partial Custody tubist Ben Stapp), and drums (by Magic Band/Android Trio veteran Andy Niven). While Kutner's six-string prowess is muted for most of Rogue Lash, "Wonder, TM" gives him a chance to flash his chops in a gorgeous, late Zappa-esque modal whammy bar/feedback solo, accompanied by former Cecil Taylor/David S. Ware drummer Marc Edwards and Kutner's current Corset Lore bandmate Tamara Yadao on synth. The aforementioned "Navigating the Nepomatrix" is nasty cybernetic funk, flaunting a ten-piece horn section and another blazing Kutner solo which distills every good note Adrian Belew played in the '80s.

The bleak post-apocalyptic soundscape "A Brighter Nowhere" conjures a world devoid of hope, but gives way to the gentle valediction of "Safe Travels," the oldest track here, with a choir of overdubbed soprano saxophones all played by Michael Eaton. You won't hear another record like Rogue Lash this or any year. At 76 minutes, its sonic singularity would fit on a single CD. How about it, Orenda? A little physical media crumb for an old man who's geeked on The Romance of the Artifact?