The Bad Penny (beta)

Every one of us has and/or will, often tragically, squander precious opportunities over the course of our life. The trio of Gastr del Sol and Squirrel Bait cofounder David Grubbs, multi-instrumentalist improviser Wendy Eisenberg and John Zorn collaborator Kramer refer to themselves as “Squanderers” on this rare get-together.

But the seven ad hoc compositions they conjure together without a predetermined game plan aren’t sullen or sulky dirges mired in past regrets. Nor do the gentle souls waste this rare meeting of three like minds by staring at their navels for catharsis, if not answers, over what went wrong in the past.

Rather, the Squanderers—each of them minimalism-obsessed experimentalists—explore how far three musicians can turn the volume knob in the opposite direction of 11 without dissolving into the ether. The results are spellbinding and politely request the same attention from the listener as Primer and Coherence require from movie watchers to fully appreciate, if not completely understand.

To be clear, Grubbs and Kramer—also the founder of Shimmy-Disc, which released this record—do have some history working together. They proverbially shook hands last year and dished up two songs under the tidy appellation of Kramer & Grubbs. But, upon welcoming guitar virtuoso Eisenberg into the fold, they decided to formalize their slightly larger endeavor, christen it with the Squanderers moniker, and make an album together.

Given the vast musical talents and multi-instrumental fluency that each group member possesses, it may seem, as discussed above, that Squanderers did a disservice to their new project and its debut album by not utilizing more of their talents. Some may even go so far as to cry blasphemy over their decision to relegate Grubbs and Eisenberg to just guitar, and Kramer to bass guitar only.

Take anther glance at that previous sentence, and the band’s decision-making should become apparent: Squanderers also decided against bringing a drummer or percussionist into the fold, reinforcing the theory that Grubbs, Eisenberg and Kramer sought to make the quietest jam session on record, so to speak, that will likely impress even their kindred spirits in Tortoise.

Here’s to the power of—and hopefully a more widespread return to—The Almighty Hush.