As you might have suspected from the band name and album title, this is not an album of straightahead jazz takes on the Great American Songbook. For the project, German drummer Oli Steidle has assembled a charismatic quintet, including two keyboardists, plus a small cast of equally characterful guest players. The almost soothing ‘Intro’ might make you think you were in for 50 minutes of ambient electronica, but a glitchy segue then alerts you to the fact that you're destined for an altogether bumpier ride as ‘Alive’ speeds off with reckless unpredictability Call it jazz-rock, call it electro-punk, call it Frank Zappa meets Thundercat. (Nothing wrong with that!) The longest track, at nearly 11 minutes, is ‘Speed Junky on Funny Human Darts’, which begins with an extended monologue delivered by guest vocalist Andreas Schaerer in a manner that might remind you of Captain Beefheart. It has some nice, angular passages but is overextended. The ethereal, rhythmically shifting, wordless ‘Nuremberg Heroin Lullaby’ is preferable.