Nowadays when someone tells me, “Holy shit, I stumbled upon the coolest band playing last night, they were called…,” the most frequent words to follow are “the Point.” Descriptions of what they saw vary greatly, because the young duo of Jack Montesinos and Joe Roddy are unusually polygamous to genre and instrumentation.: The Point is, at heart, a jazz-fusion combo, but every record opens new lanes. 2020 debut iHOP sounded like bedroom pop made by kids who were first-chair in school band, followed up with a trunk-rattling instrumental homage to Houston hip-hop godhead DJ Screw. New EP Berto’s Banquet – which finds Montesinos (a prodigious upright bassist) playing amped up electric guitar and Roddy (who seems to play every category of instruments) on organ and synth bass – opens with uncaged garage psych, then delves into Andean tropical music, smoky neo-soul, and dub.: The recordings document a recent era in which they’re backed by Italian drummer Alberto Telo, who plays with traditional grip and conjures exquisite accents. His chemistry with the Point has been so game-changing it’s little surprise they named Berto’s Banquet, which arcs with raw, one-take vitality, in his honor.
Fri., Dec. 23, 8pm