(Instrumental Progressive Funk Rock) [CD] Bad Suit - Bad Suit [EP] - 2008, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

X Lossless Decoder version 20130720 (144.0)
XLD extraction logfile from 2013-12-05 20:46:04 -0500
Bad Suit / Bad Suit
Used drive : MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-868 (revision KB19)
Media type : CD-Recordable
Ripper mode             : XLD Secure Ripper
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        2  | 06:23:01 | 05:45:06 |     28726    |    54606
        3  | 12:08:07 | 06:09:26 |     54607    |    82307
        4  | 18:17:33 | 06:36:50 |     82308    |   112057
        5  | 24:54:08 | 06:26:68 |    112058    |   141075
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Track 01
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REM GENRE "Instrumental Progressive Funk Rock"
REM DATE 2008
REM DISCID 43075905
PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
TITLE "Bad Suit"
FILE "01 - The Gooseneck Appendage.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Gooseneck Appendage"
    PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "02 - Wrong Way Gone.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Wrong Way Gone"
    PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "03 - Inside Out.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Inside Out"
    PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "04 - Levanter.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Levanter"
    PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "05 - Sometime.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Sometime"
    PERFORMER "Bad Suit"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00

The worst thing about being in an instrumental trio is that if you screw up‚ there's very little to hide behind. Luckily‚ Bad Suit is making music they can stand up for. Nestling comfortably into the forgotten world of prog-funk‚ Bad Suit's eponymous debut is music made for the players' ears. More inducing of smirk-faced head-nods than dancefloor-filling funk struts‚ Bad Suit at its best imposes an awe-driven stillness.
"The Gooseneck Appendage" is reminiscent of the sound many late-'70s fusion masters brought to the synthesized world of the early '80s. Structured like something off Al DiMeola's Electric Rendezvous‚ or even like a more tasteful Joe Satriani cut‚ the threesome are able to lock and punch the form here with the best of the post-jazz troubadours. Kevin Stevens has a touch eerily similar to John Scofield‚ yet his first solo proves he has very much found his own voice on the electric guitar. As "Gooseneck" opens into a double-time dance groove‚ it sounds like a somewhat unnatural attempt to appeal to a dance-friendly audience‚ but Stevens' precision attack keeps the focus on the player.
All great fusion albums have their refined ballad‚ and Alex Budney's bass harmonics on "Wrong Way Gone" create the sonic delicacies that leave you completely unprepared for the fiercely odd-counted groove that arises in the second part of the song. Still‚ Tim Sharbaugh's prolific touch on drums makes this obscure count accessible to the casual listener while still managing to keep the band locked in horse hooves-they're so stuck together on this one the Elmer's is dripping.
Things tend to get stretched out pretty far on most of these tunes‚ and "Inside Out" would hold more strength if it was minus a few bars of soloing. Budney loves to slap and has the touch for it‚ but at times the bass hits can be a little underwhelming. A straight-up deep end on "Inside Out" could beef up the occasional tentative moments. For a band equally influenced by Steely Dan and Led Zeppelin‚ though‚ it's hard to deny the strength of the harder parts. On album-closer "Sometime‚" Stevens strikes with bolts from Mordor as another guitar track resonates underneath-both the darkest and downright raddest part of the album. Bad Suit may come off as too complex at times for the novice fusionist‚ but other grooves might welcome those same heads into a whole new musical strata. Those who know their history‚ however‚ will be fully intrigued with these new cats testing the waters.
Adam King

When is a jam band not a jam band? When it’s a progressive-funk band, of course! Or a jazz-funk band. Or a reggae-rock-hip-hop-jazz-fusion- klezmer-polka-swing-flamenco-funk band. Or a . . . well, you get the idea. As the term “jam” has become something of a four-letter word, more and more bands attempt to mask their noodly inclinations with hyphenated genre descriptors. But in the case of Burlington’s Bad Suit, “prog-funk” is anything but subterfuge. Rather, it’s a fitting description of the inventive blend of instrumental rock found on the trio’s self-titled studio debut. When is a jam band not a jam band? When it’s Bad Suit.
The disc gets underway with “Gooseneck Appendage,” fueled by a swirling opening guitar riff courtesy of Kevin Stevens and doubled by bassist Alex Budney. The tune sets a laid-back but driving groove, ultimately giving way to a nifty double-time bridge. Under the precise polyrhythmic command of drummer Tim Sharbaugh, the band alternates between the two feels several times before bringing it all back around to close on the opening riff.
“Wrong Way Gone” begins as a meandering, low-key, guitar-driven affair, with Budney quite literally chiming in with tasteful bass harmonics. But as quickly as the listener settles into the tune’s playfully ethereal textures, the band unceremoniously switches gears, math-rock style. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out the time signatures here and I’m still stumped. It’s deceptively intricate. Thankfully, for meter-challenged folks like myself, the band closes out the tune with a good old-fashioned 4/4 romp.
As previously noted, Bad Suit labels itself as “progressive-funk” and, more than any number on the disc, “Inside Out” bears out this designation. Generally, the band falls on the proggier end of the spectrum. But here Budney becomes unleashed, laying down some seriously funkified bass lines. True to form, the players once again mix it up structurally. This time it turns into my favorite moment on the disc, as Stevens delivers a series of lines recalling the psychedelic surf ramblings of The Mermen.
“Levanter” is the jammiest cut on the record and my least favorite. Where the previous tunes — and album closer “Sometime” — find the band exhibiting tactful taste and restraint, here we get an earful of wah-pedal wankery. Call it a personal bias, but the song does a disservice to an otherwise fine recording.
This Friday, Nectar’s hosts a double dose of CD releasin’ as Bad Suit teams up with Japhy Ryder, celebrating the release of their latest, No Consequence.
Dan Bolles

Kevin Stevens (guitar)
Alex Budney (bass)
Tim Sharbaugh (drums, percussion)