The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis : Deface the Currency
The punk rock pedigree of Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics is hard to overlook, the rhythm section of bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty having made their name in post-hardcore legends Fugazi. But what they bring to the ensemble is a loose and fluid groove, the kind that formed the backbone of their most sinister and understated material such as that which comprised the bulk of Fugazi’s swan song The Argument. With guitarist Anthony Pirog driving the material on their self-titled debut into the sphere of jazz fusion, they channeled the likes of John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra, resulting in something less jazz-punk in the manner of the Contortions or Nation of Ulysses than jazz with punk in the back end, freedom and exploration with taut, muscular rhythms driving it.
That mixture of elements made for an inspired collaboration with New York saxophonist James Brandon Lewis on their 2024 debut, his fiery yet melodic performances adding an extra element of both melody and unpredictability, brightening their groove while lending it a prickly edge. As the saxophonist and art-punk trio reconvene for a second set of punk-jazz workouts made all the more airtight following 150 live shows in a year’s time, they explore a darker set of tones, a more abrasive palette of textures. Where their music carried an element of danger before, here it’s steeped in something more eerie and ominous.
Kicking off with the title track, Deface the Currency comes alive in a frenzy of dissonance, Lewis playing dizzying leads around the abrasive wash of Pirog’s guitar. Yet between these passages of rhythmic chaos, the two engage in a harmonic duel of sorts, spiraling around one another in a stunning act of synchrony. They take a more understated approach to the noir funk of “Gestations,” coolly easing their way toward a Sonny Sharrock-like noise-jazz climax, while “30 Years of Knowing” carries a gentler beauty in its shadowy strut.
Though much of the material is easily recognizable as the same ensemble that delivered their debut collaboration two years ago, they’ve stretched themselves farther and pushed themselves into much stranger realms on this outing. Not the least of which is “Universal Security,” an ominous rumble of a waltz that descends into a kind of terrifying cosmic mayhem, Pirog and Lewis firing on all cylinders and deploying the most devastating tools at their disposal to fight back against getting sucked into the dark matter stirred up by Canty and Lally’s rhythmic foundation. But it’s with the thunderous pummel of closing track “Serpent Tongue (Slight Return)” that The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis offer the reminder that there’s just as much punk rock in this equation as there is jazz—and all of it kicks ass.
Label: Impulse!
Year: 2026
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The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis : Deface the Currency
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