3 out of 5

Label: Veal Records

Produced by: Swami Lateplate

You lil’ jazzy boys are so cute with your black fingernail polish and hoodies. Turn on some lights in here, will ya’?

Alternately: Denison Kimball Trio were making creepy cool jazz soundtracks like 30 years ago; ain’t nothin’ new…

But this is me judging an album by its cover. And album name. And the reviews calling it dark, and gloomy, and the meta tags that label it as metal… Look: I don’t think I’m pulling this from nowhere; and also: I do quite like this album. I just had some expectations from the above that have been hard to reconcile with the actual output.

The questionably goofily named Swami Lateplate consists of drummer Bobby Previte and piano man Jamie Saft, delivering a soundtrack to an imaginary movie called ‘Doom Jazz.’ John Redcorn is also credited with “occasional bass,” which is doing the man a giant disservice, since he practically carries the vibe on tracks like ‘The Forbidden Border.’ …A track which arguably does fulfill the implication of something called ‘Doom Jazz,’ as does the opening cut, ‘Malignant Cloud,’ with Previte and Saft tip-toeing around one another on a slow, swallowing-wave theme that crops up on a few songs.

My main issue is that, outside of these tunes, the album doesn’t really dive nearly as deeply as it could, as those tracks offer evidence of how downbeat and grinding this duo / trio is capable of being. Which is fine…! Except then you get into territory where I’ve heard exactly this stuff before – from a lot of 90s Chicago post-rockers mind you – like Tortoise’s first album, or even early Dianogah, or especially the aforementioned DK Trio. I love all that stuff; I’m giving Previte and Saft a hard time because, well, this album kind of plays like a lite version of it for jazz fans, and I’m not sure if that was the intention.

Also, I gotta say, it really felt like Saft just wasn’t on board at points. Which I know is ridiculous, but while Redcorn is out there giving us a nighttime groove, and Bobby is sashaying or pounding on the drums, Saft will come in and tinkle something kinda upbeat, rather spoiling the vibe. …I’m doubling back again because I know that “vibe” is / was based on my expectations, but when I set those aside I’m faced with trying to differentiate this from material made 10-20 years earlier.

It’s a lovely album, really! I like it — really! I… also really thought I was gonna like it a lot more.