Tommy Babin's Benzene

From the get-go, Your Body is Your Prison pulls no punches, leading off with a slick bass exercise courtesy of Benzene bandleader Tommy Babbin. Soon, saxophonist Chad Makela, guitarist Chad McQuarrie and Vancouver scene drummer-for-hire Skye Brooks join the fray, exercising no caution as they pour uncompromising sound from their instruments. A crafty exercise in maddening juxtaposition, Your Body is Your Prison pits full-bore free-improv against stratospheric out-rock. Both sides win in this genre war and really, it's the listener that's ultimately victorious, as the band deliver track after amazing track. On "The Thing and I," McQuarry fires off riff rockets in all directions, leaving the rest of the band trying to keep up. At the jazzy end of the spectrum, "Citizen Kang" lurches like a drunken demon. Tommy Babbin's Benzene aren't your grandfather's jazz combo; they'd rather stomp on convention than be reined in by it.