Label: Intakt Records, 2022
Personnel - Dave Gisler: guitar; Raffaele Bossard: bass; Lionel Friedli: drums; David Murray: tenor saxophone; Jaimie Branch: trumpet.
The extroverted Swiss trio led by guitarist Dave Gisler is powerfully augmented here with the wealth of experience and blaze brought by saxophonist David Murray and the creative musical sensibilities of trumpeter Jaimie Branch. Even probing other moods, the stylistic predominance on the trio’s third outing, See You Out There, can be specified as acute avant-jazz meets raw-boned punk rock.
The boisterous opener, “Bastards on the Run”, ensures an explosive start. Played at a blistering tempo, the piece shows off an aggressive and pliable rhythm section - composed of bassist Raffaele Bossard and drummer Lionel Friedli - paving the ground for concurrent spontaneous incursions of guitar, saxophone and trumpet. A cacophonous noise delirium comes out of the speakers at full force, inundating the surroundings with ferocious energy. Other punkier tracks include “Medical Emergency”, which, inspired by true Covid events, revels in horn unisons, muscular drumming, and fiery solos from guitar and tenor; and “What Goes Up…”, whose pummeling rhythmic drive and loud guitar strumming are in a position to defy The Sex Pistols. This number, together with the closing 3/4 bluesy cut “Better Don’t Fuck with the Drunken Sailor”, originally appeared on the 2020 album Zurich Concert, which also featured Branch.
“Can You Hear Me” and “Get a Doener” have strong improvisational flairs. The former, with unaggressive chordal work and sharp trumpet notes pointing to the sky, becomes heavier, then darker and then percussive; the latter, squeezing a hip-hop feel out of its rhythmic fragmentation, has Gisler and Murray engaged in an uproarious dialogue. At odds with these ambiences yet with distinct natures, we have the eerily atmospheric title track and “The Vision”, whose irresistible theme plays like a spiritual hymn. Over the course of the tune I just mentioned, one finds melodious trumpet lines set against a fuzz-painted wall of noise, an inside/outside guitar improvisation delivered with hammer-ons and resolute phrases, and Murray’s volcanic blows over a prodding krautrock rhythm. This captivating album is a squall of musical intensity and puissant improvisation.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Bastards on the Run ► 04 - The Vision ► 06 - Medical Emergency