In the 20 years since Fugazi went on indefinite hiatus, its members have been regular presences on the Dischord roster. The Messethetics, a instrumental trio teaming that band’s iconic rhythm team of Joe Lally and Brendan Canty with outside-the-box jazz guitarist Anthony Pirog, officially debuted on the label in 2018, and quickly established themselves as one of the most active projects among the current Dischord squad. The band emerged fully formed on its first, self-titled effort, but this follow-up, arriving just a year later, revealed an even richer group chemistry. Opener “Better Wings” combined the exhilarating drive of classic Fugazi instrumentals like “Arpeggiator” and “Number Five” with Pirog’s dazzlingly fluid shred, while the choppy, metallic “Drop Foot” picked up on the punk-prog tendencies of Black Flag circa 1984. Other tracks, like the noisy, free-form interlude “The Assignment,” slyly funky strut “Pay Dust” and pastoral, slow-building “Because the Mountain Says So,” revealed a band with limitless potential, participating in an inter-genre conversation stretching from 70s ECM to ‘80s SST and beyond.

– Hank Shteamer