Duane Denison

“Pandemic, pajamas, shit, fatigue, dog, California, music.” Mike Patton uses those words a lot during our interview, according to the transcription software that parsed our mid-March phone chat. And somewhere within those words is the genesis of the intense, stunning and diverse 12-song Tomahawk LP Tonic Immobility, which arrives eight years after 2013’s Oddfellows. The band, featuring Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard/Unsemble), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle/Fantômas), Patton (Faith No More/Mr. Bungle, etc.) and John Stanier (Helmet/Battles), is not the primary lineup for any of its members, but the music has a primacy that belies that status. It might have been only five or so years between albums, however, “it just took me a minute to like, really get into the music,” Patton says from his ...