Thumbscrew is a lesson in control and understatement. Over the course of the record, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formaneck , and drummer Tomas Fujiwara manage to stir up a sort of controlled ruckus. The music ebbs and flows in different states of tension, seemingly built on loose compositions with healthy interjections of freedom. In spite of the occasional liberties however, the group never lose sight of the song. Even when things get rocking on "Still Doesn't Swing", there is an underlying restraint employed.

Halvorson's playing always strikes me as somewhat English; Bailey and McLaughin come to mind, even though the rock-ish passages land closer to prog than jazz/fusion. On the title track she gently bends notes and meter as Formaneck holds court in the lower frequency range. His interplay with the guitar is extraordinary here, combating her strange, almost flanged sounding chords with furious picking before Tomas brings even time back to the fray. "Fluid Hills in Pink" is a more solemn affair. Dead, sporadic drums and a solid bass hook set the scene for Halvorson's chording. Formaneck gets a nice duo with Fujiwara that devolves into double stop strumming and free time drums. Fujiwara's drums have a dark, muted sound here; even the cymbals seem shrouded in gauzy hues. Finally guitar emerges for some soloing at the end of the piece, wrenching new configurations of the melody out the existing note cells.

"Nothing Doing" opens with an insistent rhythm by Fujiwara that he exhausts before the group closes this short track with a rocking fanfare. "Goddess Sparkle" has a freer structure, with subtle tonal changes in guitar via effects, tiny note bends, and vibrato that add buoyancy to her lines. Drums abruptly signal the next section with a heavy tom beat and some more Latin flavored rhythms. "Buzzard's Breath" begins with a stated melody and turns into a more rocking affair with heavy, bent strumming and notes that slide in and out of dissonance with 90's octave chord action.

Halvorson's tremendous technique shines throughout Thumbscrew. Her control is magnificent as her band mates intuitively tumble around beneath her playing. This record is a must for fans of modern guitar explorations and serves as a taut symposium in group interplay, offering surprises at every turn.