Zoot Allures, Frank Zappa

The alphabet of albums comes to sputtering, unsatisfying end. Z is for zany, I guess?

Zoot Allures, Frank Zappa, 1976, :42

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

One of Zappa's perhaps less fully fleshed-out projects.  The funky jazz-rock is fine, but the subject matter is typical Zappa shock schlock (example: "Find her finer, sneak up behind her / Unwrap like a mummy 'til you finally unwind her / Find her, blind her, see who designed her / Act like a dummy 'til you finally grind her"). "Wonderful Wino" is told by a bum, lyrically and vocally like a lost Tom Waits track. "Ms. Pinky" is catchy, but it's about a sex doll, the lyrics made even creepier by Zappa's oily crooning whisper.  I could do without hearing the ten-minute death knell of "The Torture Never Stops" ever again.  But "Zoot Allures" is a very pleasant instrumental, and I generally have little patience for rock instrumentals, the genre being so rife with monotony.  Favorite tracks: "Wonderful Wino," "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station."