JetBlackItalic
The rock offshoot that's hardest to pull off successfully has got to be the experimental, post-punk, art-rock genre. Only a handful of bands have any expertise, most notably Sonic Youth. And like Sonic Youth, Madison, Wisconsin's four-member P'elvis creates abstract, intellectual music by taking indie rock and avant-garde jazz and making it punk. Unlike Sonic Youth, P'elvis has no vocals; the instruments do the talking.

The second CD by P'elvis is soothing. Like a cold beer spiked with ecstasy on hot rainy day, it's refreshing, yet unsettling, but good, and oh so interesting. Maniacal, free-style jazz-like in sound, and punk in both spirit and noise, P'elvis has created an improvisational masterpiece of art music. And like the best avant-garde performances, it's difficult to tell when compositions end and improvisations begin.

The opening track, "Breedlove," starts with the guitar of Russell Hall, followed by the brilliant backbone rhythms of Kevin Wade on bass and Tony Sellers on drums. The importance of these two gifted musicians cannot be emphasized enough. They keep the engine running smoothly on all levels, sometimes slowly and at other times, with extreme force. They are underscored by superb, free styling on the saxophones of Chris Maddox, trading off with Hall's guitars, which are particularly beautiful on "S&M Fiasco Part 2."”

Another standout, "Folding the Sky," is an epic with driving bass and drums punctuated by a drunken, high-pitched saxophone screaming across the landscape. Heavy metal in feel and urgency, the rhythm builds and crescendos into the next song, "POW!" This is a strong point in an all-around superb album. "Unlearning Curve" smolders for over nine minutes into the stark but expansive "The Lunar Sea."

P'elvis would benefit greatly with the addition of a singer, but this talented instrumental band, formed in 1998, merits support so that it can continue to craft its own brand of gritty, arty, and uncompromising music. — Mike Kylis, Delusions of Adequacy

Hey kids! Do you like noise, but wish it had a little more structure? Do you like jazz, but wish it wasn't so soothing? Do you like post-rock, but wish it was a little more fun?

If Ornette Coleman had grown up on the punk-rock and no-wave sounds of the early 80s (never mind the paradox that those genres may have never existed without him), he may have created a record like JetBlackItalic the second CD by Madison, Wisconsin's P'elvis. Catchy, calculated riffs give way to jagged noise on tracks like "Folding the Sky." A slow-burning groove on "Unlearning Curve," courtesy bassist Kevin Wade and drummer Tony Sellers, provides space for Russell Hall's guitar and Chris Maddox's saxophone to focus on texture and tone. Each song displays scholarly understanding of jazz, instrumental rock, and all points in between.

While Wade and Sellers lock into each other to give each song its consistency, Maddox and Hall alternate their roles for nearly each stanza of the album. Not only do they trade off as the lead instrument (one moves up in the mix while the other joins the rhythm section), they also switch between steady, defined notes and abrasive yet engaging noise freakout/workouts. Suffice it to say, there's never a dull moment on JetBlackItalic.

Sure, the band chose a silly name, but intelligent people will look past that and focus on the album — which is excellent, in case you haven't been reading this review very closely. If there were any justice in this world, P'elvis would be one of 2003's biggest breakout stars. But this world isn't fair, so you'll just have to take my word for it and hunt down your own copy of JetBlackItalic. — Michael Wojtasiak, Action Man Magazine

A perfectly executed graphic package, a sophisticated use of dynamics and a modest sampling of the crescendoing, sax-centric passages that are the hallmark of the P'elvis songbook make the local quartet's latest CD a best buy for anyone addicted to the more measured side of No Wave. At times the all-instrumental disc comes across as an analog to Clock DVA's brooding ruminations on the early '80s. On the other hand, the heavy bass grooving on "Folding the Sky" and the monstrous riff that powers "Pow!" are more akin to middle-period King Crimson (indeed, another track directly quotes Robert Fripp and the boys).

But P'elvis aren't aping anyone. They're simply expanding upon some familiar elements of the avant-rock grammar. That approach has served them well in the past, and JetBlackItalic is their most impressive musical statement yet. It's also more proof that some of the most powerful Madison-bred music isn't directed at the dance floor. — Tom Laskin, Isthmus

Wow, what a monster. This recording heaves, sighs and squeals like a black demon slowly going berserk in a dark, cold: steel cage. It's a fiend exiled from sanity by random flashbacks of incoherent thought patterns that breed panic, disorder and contempt for the overlord who sentenced it to its fate. I love it. Indie-rock meets King Crimson math-rock meets John Coltrane spiritual jazz flight. Amazing.

The tracks are built around simple, repetitive bass figures and rhythms leaving the guitar and sax to purr, ripple and moan atmospherically. Occasionally it all explodes into a glorious cacophony of blazing sax and hyper-distorted guitar wails or feedback. This is not music to be taken lightly and is, in my estimation, able to elicit fantastic drug-induced visions without the drugs.

This is P'elvis' second recording and from what I gather is a bit more exploratory than their first, although information on the band doesn't exactly abound. It's beautifully packaged as well, by those geniuses at Planet Propaganda. Recording credits are given to both Wendy Schneider at Coney Island and Mark Haines at Smart, with the mixing done by Haines.

Each song is a journey. THE LUNAR SEA stood out for me as a very cool melody line, just smooth and gliding throughout. MYOCLONIC JERK (I believe the name refers to those jerks you experience while falling asleep) was very reminiscent of King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man, only much cooler. SOLID GOLD starts off like a Stabbing Westward tune and then leaps into a wild, battering, riff-laden figure over which the sax blazes. And it all happens in 1:56. If the rest of the songs are journeys, then the album closer CORONATION DAY is a pilgrimage. Spacey, electronic, backwards sounds melt into cymbal rolls and sax bursts. Then it breaks into a cool-groove theme that suddenly spaces out again, then returns for a lengthy improv section with live, barely audible audience sounds woven into the mix. A guitar figure emerges and the band slow-burns to a rousing climax before disappearing into the ether again. What a trip.

Chris Maddox's sax is heavily processed throughout, as is Russell Hall's guitar. Only the rhythm section of drummer Tony Sellers and bassist Kevin wade manage to keep the whole thing from lifting off into the stratosphere. There are no vocals, and three of the tracks crack the nine-minute mark, so be forewarned: this is not everyone's cup of tea. But this my review so I get to gush about how great it is. Can't wait to hear this band live. — Rick's Cafe

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