Sex Mob isn't your average hip, sophisticated post- Cocktail Nation jazz/ fusion combo. On Din of Inequity, they've composed some pretty mind- blowing original material, and more than a few ambitious, interpretative gestures of rock and jazz standards.

Sex Mob knocks tradition on its ear, as evidenced by their confounding takes on "House of the Rising Sun," and Hoagie Carmichael's "New Orleans." Prince's "Sign 'O' the Times" is reshaped into as inscrutable a piece of work as the little Purple elf that penned it. Later, the Mob acknowledge and parody the current spy-theme fad with their twisted interpretation of "Goldfinger." Even everyone's favorite Latin- American dance sensation, the Macarena, can't escape the chopping block. In the deconstructive hands of the Mob, the Macarena may as well be Cecil Taylor's "Three Phasis." And just to reiterate their penchant for instrumental re-invention and wit, the Mob close Din of Inequity with a suprisingly recognizable yet slightly demented rendition of Wings' "Live and Let Die."

Sex Mob Mastermind and slide trumpeter Steve Bernstein's own compositions-- "Holiday of Briggan" and "Super Don" especially-- are nothing short of brilliant. Minimal trumpet, subtle guitar- speak, and smooth sax lines slither around hip-hop- inflected beats. And often, Bernstein and the gang break from those old reliable 12-tones onto some tangential skronk- fests, then effortlessly settle back into Groove City.

A curious crossbreeding of electric- era Miles Davis, Herb Alpert laced with LSD, and Spike Jones, these guys are irreverent jazzbos with a knack for subverting any and all expectations concerning song structure and melody. In the end, Sex Mob perfectly bridge the gap between the post- modernist, highbrow stance of contemporary John Zorn, and the comatose traditionalism of the Marsalises.

-Michael Sandlin