Hunter is an all-out assault on civility. The sonically perverse and tremendously prolific Kansas City duo of Seth Andrew Davis and Evan Verploegh outdo themselves on the belligerent instrumental album released on cassette and digitally in March.
Davis approximates a reckless version of the intrepid jazz guitar hero Mary Halvorson during much of the 18-minute “In the Moon 100 Years Ago Or in the Middle of Kansas Now.” The whimsically harrowing epic lives up to its title.
“Americus” could be mistaken for a pernicious remix of a deep cut from Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. Countering Verplough’s decisive drumming, Davis commits to an intentionally funkless evocation of Eddie Hazel on “(Un)Controlled Burn.”
The livid “Where Are the Buffalo” and the relatively serene “Let the States Tremble, Let the Nations Weep” complete the assault on established Kansas values. Why is the duo picking on Kansas? Davis and Verplough are likely responding to any one of many regrettable developments in the state on their furious protest album.