The Messthetics Tickets

The Deface the Currency Tour is the 2026 road campaign supporting the new second collaborative album from The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, released in February 2026 via Impulse! Records. The tour brings together the core Messthetics lineup of Brendan Canty on drums, Joe Lally on bass and Anthony Pirog on guitar alongside acclaimed tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. The quartet has been performing extensively across North America showcasing material from the new record alongside songs from their acclaimed 2024 self-titled debut as a foursome.

Deface the Currency is the second collaborative full-length from The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, released February 20, 2026 on Impulse!, the legendary jazz label. The record grew out of the band's time on the road in the summer of 2025, when drummer Brendan Canty felt their chemistry had evolved enough to return to the studio. The quartet recorded at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland with engineer Don Godwin, the same studio where their debut album was tracked, and the result is described by critics as a sharper, freer evolution of the combustive sound they introduced on that first record.

Where the 2024 self-titled debut captured the initial combustive chemistry between the Messthetics trio and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, Deface the Currency reflects a band that has logged serious time on the road together and grown tighter as a unit. Critics have described the new album as showcasing a group that is both sharper and freer, with the quartet's spontaneous interplay more fully realized after dozens of shows touring the debut. The record was again recorded at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland over just a couple of days, continuing the band's commitment to capturing live energy in the studio.

The Messthetics are an instrumental trio from Washington D.C. featuring Joe Lally on bass and Brendan Canty on drums, both of whom formed the rhythm section of the legendary post-hardcore band Fugazi, along with virtuosic guitarist Anthony Pirog. The band formed in 2018 and released two albums on Dischord Records, the storied punk label closely associated with Fugazi, before expanding their collaboration to include tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Their pairing with Lewis led to a partnership with Impulse!, the historic jazz label, marking a notable evolution in the band's sonic identity.

James Brandon Lewis is one of the most celebrated tenor saxophonists working today, known for his powerful improvisational approach rooted in jazz but reaching far beyond genre boundaries. His collaboration with The Messthetics began informally with a guest appearance at a New York show in 2019, but it was a fall 2021 performance at Brooklyn's Bell House that sparked something deeper when Lewis joined the band mid-set on their riff workout Serpent Tongue and pushed the music to a new intensity. That moment convinced the group there was a full creative partnership to explore, leading first to their acclaimed 2024 Impulse! debut and now to the Deface the Currency Tour.

Yes, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis are scheduled to perform at Solid Sound in 2026, the beloved music and arts festival held at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, with dates running June 26-28. Solid Sound is curated by Wilco and is known for drawing an adventurous, music-obsessed crowd that makes it a natural fit for The Messthetics' genre-blurring blend of post-hardcore, jazz and experimental rock.

Live performances on the Deface the Currency Tour feature the full quartet — Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, Anthony Pirog and James Brandon Lewis — playing with the incendiary spontaneity the band is known for. Setlists draw from both Deface the Currency and the 2024 self-titled album, with the group known to weave in exploratory improvisations and unexpected covers, as evidenced by recent show recordings that captured everything from original compositions like Gestations and Serpent Tongue to outside material. The band performs in intimate venues that put fans close to the action, emphasizing the combustive chemistry that has defined their touring reputation.

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis occupy a genuinely singular space, blending post-hardcore energy and muscular funk grooves from the Messthetics trio with the expressive, free-ranging tenor saxophone work of James Brandon Lewis across Deface the Currency. Their sound draws comparisons to the boundary-pushing art-punk of Fugazi, which Lally and Canty helped define, while embracing the improvisational freedom and harmonic depth of avant-jazz. Critics have described their live shows as both incendiary and spontaneous, with each performance finding new ground within compositions that range from hard-swaggering funk to wistful jazz-inflected themes.

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While setlists can vary between venues, The Messthetics will likely play the following songs on tour: Rules Of The Game, Deface The Currency, Gestations, Clutch, 30 Years Of Knowing, That Thang, Universal Security, Emergence, Boatly, Serpent Tongue (Slight Return)