How You Been

Made up of an all-star roster (Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Josh Johnson, Booker Stardrum, and Gregory Uhlmann), Los Angeles-based quintet SML assemble their recordings from a hybrid of live and in-studio performances. Small Medium Large introduced their style of fluid, groove-heavy improvisations, and second effort How You Been continues in the same direction, but feels more assured and deliberate. The groups members have clearly become more in tune with each other, and their chemistry is tighter and stronger. Theres a more natural flow to the rhythms here, as well as a bit more studio polish, making the tracks sound closer to planned-out compositions rather than jam sessions. Theyre able to balance blippy, off-kilter electronic pulsations with breezy polyrhythms, making disparate tones and patterns easily fit together. Even tracks with slightly irregular time signatures (like "Taking Out the Trash" and "Daves") manage to come together easily, and the musicians build into an ecstatic fervor and take things to the next level, particularly when Johnson steps up for a saxophone solo. Though many of the songs have strong, hard-stepping drums, the detached, floating ambiance of "Brood Board SHROOM" taps into something otherworldly, making it seem far more than just a formless interlude. "Odd Evens" feels a little more dissonant and clanging, but it embraces that uneasiness and manages to turn it into something comforting and enjoyable. The title track starts out with grainy, tape-spliced loops and chatter, then launches into a serious art rock groove with overlapping patterns tumbling into each other. The tapes slip and it threatens to topple over, but all of that just adds to the frenzy and excitement. Even more so than on the already impressive Small Medium Large, SML have mastered their own musical language with How You Been. ~ Paul Simpson