Unselfconsciousnes, playfulness and casual skill. These too-rare commodities make Junk’s Continuation of Madness (Faffco FAFFCD-03, 49:34) a treat for those burned out on overly-earnest groove bands. Its configuration leads more toward rock-bass drum guitar and sax, sans keyboards. And leading off a disc with a song that begins in the middle (the title track), well, that’s something you would expect to find on an indie rock disc. But while there is a definite medium-to-low-fi feel to this release, this Berklee-trained quartet definitely has more going for it than mere attitude. David Robbins’ sax leads the band through a series of playfully swinging vamps (“F.U. Frank,” “Chutney Con Carne”), subdued groove (“Leslie B.” “Ascending Thirds”), led by David Schumachers’s liquid guitar backing and Frank Stewart and drummer Malcolm Peoples’ slap-dead-on-it rhythmic bedrock.
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