he Bad Plus, a piano trio from the Midwest doesn’t want you to think of them as an average piano trio. They are destined for something greater: bigger sales at least, by securing the talents of pop producer Tchad Blake to head things. They do other things besides the strict jazz that the term "piano trio" implies, there’s different influences than you might suspect (Aphex Twin, whose “Flim” is covered here, being one).

Some of them, however, should have stayed influences—and not appeared on the album. Their cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” notably, is disappointing. Maybe the song itself isn’t suited to the piano; the chords make a lot more sense being played on and coming out of a guitar. The piano can’t quite approximate Cobain’s slurred rage, only plunk out an outline of the melody. It’s a shame to waste a perfectly good piano on such a bad idea. Not even the novelty works. Think about it, wouldn’t you rather hear the Nirvana classic performed by kazoo band or polka outfit?

The originals are a little bit better. “1972 Bronze Medalist” opens with some wonderfully happy and simple chords. The piano comes in with an incredibly unmelodic chromatic skittering. The song toys with pop, yet adheres to pop form. Unfortunately, all we really have is two chords and a defiantly unmemorable melody. The bass plods along, kind of saying "yeah, this is all we’ve got." The song ends after about five minutes, slowing down a little and stopping—almost an apology.

The drummer, David King is quite good. He has a very good range, from dynamic accents to the most subtle, tossed-off fill. From the beginning of opener "Big Eater," he is all over the place. It is King’s exuberance that begins the CD promisingly, with a drum roll and a collapsing sputter, spread out over several different sounds. The explosive off-time rhythm of King’s set in “Big Eater” is matched by some technically proficient piano playing. The song seems more like arena jam rock than jazz at times, partially due to the repeated chords during the solo line.

The cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” is pretty inventive. Cutting up the rhythm of the melody and kind of pasting it together renders the song nearly unrecognizable. The song gallops through this sort of collage effect, when the drums come in full disco near the end. It has quite an effect. At this point, the Bad Plus transcends the ‘second rate piano trio’ label and becomes something else. Unfortunately for the group, the album doesn’t approach these moments of sublimity nearly enough.