4 out of 5

Label: My Pal God

Produced by: Jason Ward (recorded by)

Turn the volume up, give it a few spins.

Drums and Tuba may have been pitched to you as a jam band, and if all you heard as an example were My Pal God’s Water Damage reissue series of their first two albums, your initial impression would be: Yup, spot on.  As befitting a lot of early albums, especially for (primarily) instrumental acts, there’s a looseness to the construction here that’s representative of that somewhat dreaded Phish-y term, albeit here leaning toward grooves over stoned noodling.  Noting the band’s origins in Texas adds a bit more context: Home of Paul Newman (the band); Rhythm of Black Lines; groups that have taken the Chicago post-rock shuffle and added a bit of dusty, punky life back into it.  But still, the steady toe-tapping beat and harumph of the horn might call to mind a particular “we’re starting a band” sound you might have heard floating down your dorm halls.

But again I say: Turn it up, let it play a few times.

While nowhere near as realized as the dynamics on third release Flatheads and Spoonies, the key D&T interplay is already established on Flying, weaving in and out of the jamming.  Having the volume up to better bask in some of the lower key moments  – easy to miss with the more frequent rocking out they do here – makes it easier to note how well the layered horns of the title track shift into the suddenly-explosive conclusion of Scottie Pippen, or how the D&T fallback groove gets repurposed uniquely across the disc, especially over the first few tracks from Fists of Spaghetti to Blazevitch.  The bonus tracks of the MPG reissue are appreciated but definitely odd men out, remastered at a much higher volume and sounding a bit more like ideas than songs.  However, they’re a good shakeup after the cool down jazz of initial closer Pig Ears For Lily.

Flying Ballerina definitely captures a band in its infancy, prone to sudden rock out moments and relying on their head-bobbing horn-led groove.  But the strength of the trio’s abilities to know their songs and know how to play off of one another are still present, the album becoming more and more unique when subsequent spins expose some cool moments or notes you might’ve missed.