Featuring Guthrie Govan on guitar and Bryan Beller on bass plus über-drummer Marco Minnemann, this terrifying trio blows minds every other bar.

Like a modern-day Dixie Dregs or fusiony Satch/Vai project, they attack “Hey, Where’s My Drink Package?” with gleeful savagery; Govan whacks an off-beat funk chord, but also explores atmospheric pitch-shifting sounds. On “Aristoclub,” the threesome toys with time signatures, tossing virtuoso runs back and forth. Surrounded by two note-y aces, Beller somehow keeps it all together with his groovin’, fuzz-addled bass. Importantly, each member is a primary instrumentalist – there are no backup musicians here.

Armed with his signature Charvel, Govan can pick as fast as any human, but also drop blinding legato and tapping patterns, as on “Sgt. Rockhopper,” where he uses thick, saturated gain to employ rock and fusion runs, but also jazz-syncopated phrasing to mix things up rhythmically and harmonically. The comically titled “Sittin’ On a Duck on the Bay” dials down the heat for low-volume funk and jazz, evidence of his supreme chops; Govan’s bebop envelope-filter runs are simply spellbinding.

Somehow it all makes sense – and reminds us that The Aristocrats are brilliantly talented daredevil musicians. Duck is shred for smart people.

This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.