Three-Layer Cake is the American power trio of legendary bassist-vocalist Mike Watt (co-founder of punk band Minutemen and alternative rock band fIREHOSE, of Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and the podcaster Watt from Pedro show), drummer Mike Pride (leader of his own Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys and I Hate Work, and a collaborator of Jon Irabagon, Joe morris and Peter Evans); and guitarist-banjoist Brandon Seabrook (leader of his own trio Power Plant, and Epic Proportions, of Mostly Other People Do the Killing, and a collaborator of Gerald Cleaver, Tomas Fujiwara and singer-songwriter Anäis Mitchell). Sounds The Color Of Grounds is the sophomore album of the trio, following «Stove Top» (RareNoise, 2021).

Three-Layer Cake boasts that its three musicians have all built their careers on kicking down the barriers between genres, and they are not going to stop now. Sounds The Color Of Grounds offers nine songs that span avant-rock, no-wave funk, free jazz freakouts with some reggae and klezmer ingredients, layered like a spicy cake. Pride recorded his drum track first, and asked Watt to write songs – semi-sonnets, in fourteen lines – with these tracks. Watt recorded his songs and commanding recitations on April 1st, the birthday of his childhood friend, Minutemen’s late punk icon, guitarist-singer-songwriter D.Boon, and payed respect to another friend, visual artist Raymond Pettibon, who was associated associated with the punk band Black Flag and the SST label, in a way that corresponded with Minutemen’s legacy. Seabrook, who shares a deep affinity with D. Boon, added last the banjo and guitar tracks, and then Pride and Seabrock added overdubs and shaped the cohesive structure of these eclectic songs.

Surprisingly, the outcome sounds like having the best of all worlds. Sounds The Color Of Grounds matches fiery and urgent. free improvisation that keeps the magical spell of the poetic, experimental, DIY spirit of seminal punk bands, and even earlier, in Walt Whitman’s proto-punk, classic poetry collection, Leaves of Grass (which was originally self-published in 1855). Three-Layer Cake is already working on a third album, now with all three musicians in the studio, and still insisting on kicking down all genre constraints.

Eyal Hareuveni

Mike Watt (bass, vocals), Mike Pride (drums, percussion), Brandon Seabrook (guitar, banjo), Jonathan Moritz (saxophone)