Dweezil Zappa has been faithful to his Rock and Roll Hall of Famer dad, iconoclastic singer-guitarist Frank Zappa, for the last decade or so with the tribute band Zappa Plays Zappa. This new album, his return to original music, is erratic at best. Dweezil is a very talented guitarist, and even wails on a Fender Strat given to his dad by Jimi Hendrix on “Nothing.” Then you listen to the lyrics: “I know all there is to know about nothing.” Nor is Dweezil a great singer; his delivery is often static and nerdy in a sub-Jonathan Richman fashion. The best track is a heavy-metal spoof called “Dragon Master,” for which Frank wrote frolicsome lyrics including the tongue-in-cheek phrase, “Satan is a dragon master bringing untold disaster.” Also cool is “Malkovich,” in which actor John Malkovich reads Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” while Dweezil adds oddball licks and asides. But it’s a strange world Dweezil inhabits, and his music remains an acquired taste.

S TEVE MORSE