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Holy shit.

If “what the fuck” was my reaction to Zazen Boys’ first album, this was my reaction to its follow-up.

Holy shit.

The last time out, I wrote Mukai Shuutoku had a way to go before Zazen Boys possesed a sense of identity. I didn’t think he’d managed to find it in nine months.

With Zazen Boys II, Mukai reclaims the songcraft he eschewed on the band’s self-titled debut. He’s also managed to expand the band’s sound while retaining its distinctiveness, especially compared to his previous work.

Mukai continues to explore the spoken word realm, opting to recite his lengthy verses in his own rhythmic delivery. (He’s smart enough to know he’s not a hip-hop MC.)

The first half of the album is driven by his recitations — “Crazy Days Crazy Feelings”, “No Time”, “Cold Beat”.

He sings a lot more on this album, too, and that’s wonderful — Mukai’s blood-curdling scream and his off-kilter melodies were missed on the last album.

At the same time, he’s incorporated more varied instruments into Zazen Boys’ sound. The “Zazen Bo” interludes are driven not by guitars but by drum machines and synthesizers.

Shiina Ringo’s backing vocals on “Crazy Days Crazy Feelings” and “Amin Bou” offer a welcome contrast to Mukai’s ravings. And the organ on “Amin Bou” is some of the wildest playing on anywhere.

He’s gotten much more sophisticated in his production as well. Drummer Ahito Inazawa towers over “Crazy Days Crazy Feelings” and “Saizensen”, and he positively explodes on “Kuroi Shitagi”, the band’s most frenzied song.

Inazawa’s drumming has become so intrinsic to Mukai’s music, it’s difficult to imagine anyone else powering it. Let’s hope these two stay collaborators for a long time.

Sonic considerations aside, the real selling point for Zazen Boys II is the writing — it’s some of Mukai’s most complex and diverse yet. And amazingly enough, some of his most coherent.

“Cold Beat” is a busy song with a difficult rhythm and a brilliant percussion solo, and it doesn’t sound out of place next to “You Make Me Feel So Bad”, a melodic song on which Mukai brings back his soul man falsetto.

Guitarist Yoshikane Sou goes haywire on “Daigakusei”, and it fits in well with the “delayed brain”-style effects of “Chie Chan’s Landscape”.

“Roppon no Kurutta Hagane no Shindoo” is driven by both a disco beat and some eccentric guitar work, while “My Crazy Feeling” demonstrates Georgia blues can get punk as all get out.

The first Zazen Boys album was a dress rehearsal, a trial run to see how well the band can navigate through Mukai’s evolving songwriting.

Zazen Boys II, though, is the real deal. Mukai has found his footing with this album, staying true to the foundation of his muse while also pushing its limits. Incredible, indeed.

What the fuck?

That was my first reaction when I first played Zazen Boys’ self-titled debut. It’s the reaction I get everytime I play it.

What the fuck?

In the latter days of Number Girl, band leader Mukai Shuutoku started getting more eccentric with his songwriting. Hints of other influences cropped up in unlikely places.

“Tokyo Freeze” featured Mukai in full rap mode. “Num-Ami-Dabutz” was little more than a spoken word piece with a screaming chorus.

After the dissolution of Number Girl, Mukai spent a year experimenting. Performances with hardcore band Panic Smile and a solo acoustic tour influenced him to commandeer a previous alias, Zazen Boys, and to from a new band.

And it’s pretty much a fresh start, as evidenced on Zazen Boys’ self-titled debut album.

The album starts with Mukai doing his creepiest impression of Marvin Gaye on “Fender Telecaster”. From there, he launches into a mostly-spoken word repertoire.

“Usodarake”, “The Days of Nekomachi”, “Yureta Yureta Yureta” — all follow the basic “Num-Ami-Dabutz” template of spoken verses with sung choruses.

“Yureta Yureta Yureta” gets to so frenzied, the only way Mukai grounds it is by giving the song a straight-forward chorus.

The album crashes on the 8-minute, mid-tempo “Kaisenzenya”. The wandering song breaks down, picks up and never really finds a sense of direction.

After that, Zazen Boys ventures into Mukai’s more familiar songwriting — dischordant riffs, screaming vocals, obtuse melodies.

The conclusion of “Kimochi” layers a chaotic guitar solo over a slow beat. “Ikasama Love” chops up a compound meter beyond recognition, while “Whiskey & Unubore” is grounded on some really dissonant melodies.

Zazen Boys finds Mukai Shuutoku at his most creatively daring. He’s thrown out the book about tonality and seeks a tortured mode of expression a few steps shy of avant-garde.

It’s a challenging work. Is it likeable? Not really.

Part of Number Girl’s appeal was a tension between melody and dissonance. You could sing along with Mukai, even though he and guitarist Tabuchi Hisako cared not one whit about staying within a scale.

With Zazen Boys, that tension has dissolved into barely-controlled anarchy. While interesting, it isn’t exactly compelling.

And while Tabuchi’s axework is missing, more so is producer Dave Fridmann’s strong touch. Fridmann captured the full ferocity of Number Girl’s live show in the studio.

Zazen Boys seems to be even more powerful, but that doesn’t come across in the album’s production.

With Zazen Boys, Mukai shakes off a very successful legacy, but there’s a sense he still has a way to go before this new project possesses a clearer sense of identity.