A new trio to deliver a mix of free improvisation and punk, all of it wild-eyed and fierce as hell. Guitarist Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust, Universal Congress Of) and bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Stooges) both need no introduction, but if you insist: They’re defining figures of the 1980’s California hardcore/post-punk scene and did as much as anyone to expand the music into something beyond categorization, pulling things in from all over the imaginary genre-map, including free jazz’s improvisation and exploratory fervor. Drummer Chris Corsano (Rangda, Björk, Bill Orcutt) came up in a world heavily indebted to Baiza and Watt, fully embracing the ethos of “Punk is whatever we made it to be.” He’s brought that approach to free improvisation/experimental/etc. since he came on the scene in the late ’90s. Flash forward to late 2023 when the trio first met out in the Mojave Desert. They cut an album for Yucca Alta Records (available here), followed by a pair of SoCal shows. Now they’re embarking on a West Coast tour.
Featuring a special collaboration of Alan Jones, Dave Abramson (What), Tom Scully and Casey Adams (CSTMR). Combining their respective duo endeavors, they will be forging an exploratory quartet as What?xCSTMR.