This vinyl re-release of the 2005 The Way of the Animal Powers finds Zu (Massimo Pupillo on bass, Jacopo Battaglia on drums, and Luca T Mai on saxophone) teamed up with Fred Longberg-Holm on cello. Longberg-Holm brings extra scintillation to a group known for aggressive and intricate punk-inflected jazz.
 
Over the course of this brief twenty-five-minute album, the quartet swaggers and swings through a series of tight compositions. Zu’s ability to play in close syncopation creates a taut and expressive rhythmical beast. The music alternately lumbers and stops on a dime, gathering momentum both through force of will and intricate restraint. Nothing feels wasted in this sharp-edged slab of jazz. This is an album that growls.