It feels as if it's now time to finally write about The Messthetics as a band and not just a band in terms of where these players come from. Sure, Brendan Canty (drums) and Joe Lally (bass) are from Fugazi, and Anthony Pirog is a D.C. musician of legendary repute, but The Messthetics, on their new album, Anthropocosmic Nest, out on Friday via Dischord, sound as if they've been playing together as a tight, fusion-y three-piece for decades. The album's music feels more assured somehow than that on the band's first album, 2018's The Messthetics.
Opener "Better Things" is very nearly a bit of mainstream (instrumental) rock, even as the fiery "Drop Foot" is braver, venturing briefly into the realms of fusion and prog. On some numbers on Anthropocosmic Nest, like "Section 9" and "Scrawler", it really feels like Pirog is the leader here. I know that Messthetics work as a sort of power-trio, with each musician bringing an equal measure of chops to what's here, but there's no denying the incendiary skill and raw force of the guitarist on display on these and other tracks. Pirog has a unique tone, without getting too muso about it, and it's one that seems as equally influenced by the greats of jazz as well as those of progressive rock.
Brendan Canty and Joe Lally are invaluable parts of the band, of course, and on "Because the Mountain Says So" each contributes as much that's vital as what Pirog brings, while album closer "Touch Earth Touch Sky" has an earned heaviness about it that suggests that this band have achieved a higher rapport that what was heard on their first record. Sure, the playing of the musicians in The Messthetics is always exemplary, but now it feels borderline extraordinary. There are moments all throughout Anthropocosmic Nest that seem the result of something unspoken being brought to life, and sonic challenges being thrown down, and met. Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, and Anthony Pirog are on fire here, and even in the quieter moments on this new record, the playing of these three seems as intuitive as that of the best jazz musicians of the late Sixties.
Anthropocosmic Nest by The Messthetics is out on Friday via Dischord.
More details on The Messthetics via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Antonia Tricarico]