WORLDBROKEN

Saccharine Trust's second full-length album goes in a completely different direction from the manic avant-punk adrenaline rush of their prior work, instead focusing almost entirely on group improvisation. The album was recorded live (a record store appearance, I believe), and Minutemen bassist Mike Watt is standing in on bass; otherwise the lineup is the same as their prior album Surviving You, Always (1984).

Joe Baiza (guitar) proves himself not only a skilled player, but a deft improvisor, working with the sympathetic rhythm section to create relaxed, jazzy jams, over which Jack Brewer (vocals) recites poetry - very little if any screaming this time around, this album is a much mellower affair than what we'd been treated to in the past. There's really not a whole lot to distinguish one track from the next, each kind of fades in and out, suggesting the album tracks were edited and compiled from one long improvised performance. Pretty nice background music, to be honest. As improvised rock music, this is no King Crimson, but it's skillful and occasionally exciting.

Not an essential item in their catalog, and I rarely listen to it, but for prog listeners it's a lot more palatable than their punkier early albums. Poetry-and-jazz fans would probably like this one.