Oberlin

Band names can be so wild these days: take dance-punk group !!!, heavy metal band Sun-0))), or indie rockers Why?. The kids in the Toronto jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD carry on this tradition, but their recordings are too well thought and fleshed out for the name not to have been similarly calculated. Stumbling upon their bold moniker, you might mutter, "OK, easy there." If you then seize the chance to listen to their neither BAD nor NOT GOOD tracks, you might question that name: "Are you guys self-deprecating overachievers or a bunch of debonair tricksters?"

On BBNG2, an album that's hot then cool, invigorating then trance-inducing, they're both. The group's approach, apparently spawned from their disenchantment with their jazz education and the pretensions of contemporary jazz, neatly fuses instrumental jazz with the hip-hop they all love.

This disc is half their own tunes, half modern hits by Odd Future, James Blake, Kanye West, Gucci Mane, and My Bloody Valentine, arranged for an array of smooth keys, probing bass lines, and frenetic drums. Matt Tavares, Chester Hansen, and Alexander Sowinski are the respective talents behind this genre-razing splatter painting of electronic and acoustic noises dripping with spunk and flash.

"Earl" is the first track on BBNG2. It's a cover of Odd Future, an LA hip-hop crew who are just as devilishly young. Opening with one deep, stuttering bass tone, the song possesses all listeners who decide to bop along, then lands into a fat drum 'n' bass groove. BBNG capture the sinister side of Odd Future's music with bipolar dynamics and angry synthesizer lines. Featured saxophonist Leland Whitty also captures their cool with an extended solo that says whatever in a hundred compelling ways.

A Gershwin-esque piano cadenza on "DMZ" is interrupted by a heavy club beat. "You Made Me Realize" translates the muddiness of My Bloody Valentine's sound by speeding it up into a deliciously messy, off-the-walls free-for-all. Though most songs tend to loop material and the covers sound slightly empty from the missing vocals, the improvisatory solos and ever-shifting bass and drum detail remind us that jazz is at the root of this record.

Just as the arranging on BBNG2 pushes jazz to new frontiers, the same could be said for its engineering. The talents of each BBNG member are fully illuminated by an addictive production level from Matt McNeil, Jack Clow, and Tavares himself, giving us a deluxe package of wide dynamics with maxed-out highs of kids who know no boundaries, all the while maintaining clear distinction between the instruments.

Below the link for download on their Bandcamp page, BBNG offers an honest and upfront disclaimer: "no one above the age of 21 was involved in the making of this album. This album was recorded in one 10-hour session. Thanks to our friends, family, loved ones and anyone who fucks with us."

Listeners will appreciate this statement because it's at once colloquial ("fucks with us" as in listening to and enjoying our music) and impressive (one 10-hour session?! These kids know what they're doing). Appealing to their own age group is vital - the trio combines hip-hop covers with their own originals, coating every track in their very own shiny lacquer of youthful exuberance, paving new paths for jazz and giving their generation a way into an often-esoteric genre of music.