Mostly Other People Do the Killing - Disasters Vol. 1 (Hot Cup)

With a name and album title like these, you’d probably expect some sort of extreme metal or thrashcore. Led by bassist and composer Moppa Elliott, MOPDTK is instead a New York jazz band of long standing. For Disasters Vol. 1, the ever-shifting group exists as a piano trio – one with equal parts dedication and irreverence to the form.

“Exeter,” “Boyertown” and “Wilkes-barre” exemplify the triad’s approach: pianist Ron Stabinsky (who also plays with the Meat Puppets) performs Elliott’s swinging melodics with joyful expertise, the bassist holds down the bottom with bluesy grooves, and drummer Kevin Shea (also of Talibam! Talibam!) ignores his mates’ direction entirely to bask in his own free jazz dream. The beat-keeper isn’t a complete schmuck, however – just when you think he might simply overwhelm Elliott and Stabinsky with his thrashing, he’ll suddenly snap back to the rhythm with deadly precision, keeping the pieces on track. To add more spice, the rocking pop of “Centralia” and the soulful balladry of “Johnstown” grapple with swooping electronics as well as Shea’s loose trap work.

While there’s definitely a spirit of chaos at work here, it’s not a disrespectful one – Shea’s smirk-free penchant for fucking shit up comes from a place of love, and Elliott’s compositions hold up nicely to the roughest treatment. The constant tension between demolition and determination on Disasters Vol. 1 comes off as playful, and in the hands of these musicians it’s as far from the implications of the title as can be.