Joe Lally was on stage playing full blast when he realized his band had found a true soulmate. It was the fall of 2021, and Messthetics — the instrumental trio consisting of Lally on bass, his former Fugazi bandmate Brendan Canty on drums and guitarist Anthony Pirog — played at the Bell House in Brooklyn, belting out their fast-paced riff "Serpent Tongue." Joining them for the piece was a special guest, acclaimed jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, making his second guest appearance with the group after a drop-in at another show in New York in 2019 – and the result was crazy good!
That feeling — that there was more to explore within what began as a casual association among the four musicians — lingered after the show was over. Now Lewis, Pirog, Lally and Canty are ready to unveil their first full-length album as a quartet. On the album, released March 15 via the legendary Impulse!, the quartet can be heard locking into a hard, confident funk groove on "That Thang," rocking a mournful, jazz-like theme on "Asthenia," or rushing into ecstatic art -punk overdrive on “Emergence.”
Judging by the enthusiastic response Messthetics and their highly regarded guest have received during recent live shows, listeners are just as eager to hear what happens when brilliant musicians like these stretch through collaboration.
"I feel like there's an audience for exploration more and more," Canty says.