Ceramic Dog / Marc Ribot / Shahzad Ismaily / Ches Smith – YRU Still Here?
(Northern Spy)

The infamous guitarist Marc Ribot should be no unfamiliar name to fans of the exploratory side of rock music. He’s performed with the Lounge Lizards, has been Tom Waits main axe slinger and has contributed to many studio projects. His sporadically active trio, Ceramic Dog, is an explosive fusion of a variety of styles. Ribot is harnessing the anger and aggressive / absurd lyrics of a punk band, but with a huge smattering of genre-bending and interesting songwriting. Marc makes masterful guitar skronk and slashes over the incredibly tight and solid rhythm section, and knows just when to turn up, and just when to settle down. He also knows how to go AWOL and free, but not too far so the songs’ original idea stays intact. The group as a whole sounds great, communicating and working with each other like a jazz group would. YRU Still Here? is only their third album in 10 years and the wait definitely seems to add a sort of slightly unhinged amount of musical freshness for the group musically, and lyrically. It certainly caught my ear. I'll definitely return to it later in the year. (VII)
Check out a track here.