Peeping Tom

Peeping Tom is Mike Patton’s version of a pop record. It’s not really pop, because this is, after all, Mike Patton, a guy who can make Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music sound like a lullaby. But Peeping Tom is incredibly dull. Patton wrote and recorded a bunch of tracks, sent them out to musicians he admired and got finished songs in return. All this talent—including Kool Keith, Massive Attack and Amon Tobin—has flattened Patton and diminished what makes his recent work most interesting: him. There’s none of the personality of Mr. Bungle or the assault of Fantômas or the urgency of Tomahawk. Some tracks are decent; “Five Seconds” and “Mojo” have some oomph in them, and “We’re Not Alone” rocks. But if the highlight is hearing Norah Jones say “motherfucker,” well, I’d call this a loss.