Yeah, I said it. You may see Action Bronson suplex a half drunk fan. Kanye West may melt the face off the artistic savant in all of us. Azealia Banks may have more assets to ogle at. But I have yet to witness an act like BADBADNOTGOOD that will have you as emotionally involved in the music as the performing artists are. Even if you don’t mosh with the rest of the crowd, you’ll leave physically filthy and spiritually fulfilled and cleansed. For those not familiar with them, the three piece is composed of Canadians Matthew Tavares (keys), Chester Hansen (bass), and Alexander Sowinski (drums). They met in college and bonded over their preference to riff off of medleys of Hip Hop (Tribe Called Quest/OFWGKTA/Gucci Mayne) songs over practicing Jazz standards. After a few Youtube videos and early work with Tyler the Creator, they’re now working with Ghostface Killah and playing the bassline to the most rapped on beat right now. Three projects deep and starting a mini East Coast tour, the band has me at a loss of words for a genre and I’m completely okay with that.

After an oppressive day of humidity, the group headlined a sold out show at Brooklyn’s Glasslands as the second US date on their Riding In Cars With Boys tour. The opening acts composed of a skinny dude in a kimono singing his heart out over beats created on the spot and a cover band whose set list included “Superstition” and “Tell Me Something Good.” It was a shame that the latter act’s drummer was missing. It wouldn’t have made a difference if the singer was absent as BADBADNOTGOOD took the stage.

What’s immediately noticeable about the band when they perform is how easy you can read the dynamics among the members. For the most part Chester is in his own world, taking cues by listening to the other two and the occasional glance. Alex and Matt feed off of each other, with intense staring competitions and rigid postures as if they couldn’t release their creative energy fast enough with their music. They seem to control the tempo of the band for the most part, giving Chester moments to shine with bass and MPC solos. Alex, the one with the mic, quipped that Chester is the youngest so he has to pay his dues anyway. Overall, they have a clean understanding of the structure to their free flowing compositions. There are definite “choruses” with recognizable melodies while the “verses” are mostly improvised but it’s their concerted effort to conduct your emotions that make you believe in them. Similar to how a DJ mixes in slower, quieter parts to build it up to the bass dropping, BADBADNOTGOOD makes you lean in, literally, with softer drum rolls and less intricate lines, only to hit you with dangerously high energy, punk levels of passion. And they certainly give you more than one bass drop.

Their close to an hour set consisted of mostly their latest album, III, but also included a cover of a Flying Lotus song and TNGHT’s “Bugg’n.” Sorry FlyLo, Lunice, and HudMo, but for one night BADBADNOTGOOD made those songs theirs. They didn’t do any of their Hip Hop covers (“Electric Relaxation,” “Brooklyn Zoo,” “Flashing Lights”) but they had enough of us moshing to forget about that. It’s rare to see another band that has as much fun and freedom playing their own songs. You can expect that no two live shows from them will be alike as they break apart and rebuild their recorded tracks. They’ve done it with their past two projects, so why stop now?

Before the show started, I was able to ask them a few questions. They joked about building more team chemistry and their form of stress “release” by playing back to back Rush sets in the dark (Alex used to wear a pig mask so the other two couldn’t read his facial expressions just to prove their skill and trust) and scoring soundtracks for Michael Bay. On a more serious note, they spoke about how they enjoy taking risks more in a live show to match the energy while they’ll record one track over 10 times just to capture the right vibe they’re aiming for. They also went over some artists they admire who have mixed Jazz with Hip Hop: DOOM, Madlib, J Dilla, Premier, Pete Rock. I asked them about a professor who gave them a less than stellar grade for an assignment they submitted that borrowed pieces of Odd Future and Gucci Mayne. But it’s all love as they do their thing and he does his. I’m sure if that professor saw one of their shows today, he may have to revisit that grade.

You can buy their latest album, III, HERE.

Bryan Hahn (@notupstate)