It’s hard to ignore a band with a name like The Dead Kenny Gs. Mashing up the noted punk band The Dead Kennedys with the smooth jazz master is provocative to say the least, in questionable taste to some, but this is punk—well, sorta.

The DKGs combine punk with jazz in a very original way. The band is a trio of saxophonist Skerik, bassist Brad Houser and singer/drummer Mike Dillon, who also plays vibraphones at times. That’s it, and for only three guys with no guitars or keyboards, they make a lot of noise. It’s not always a pleasant noise, but their EP, Gorelick (named for Kenny G’s real last name, naturally) is pretty compelling stuff.

The opening track, named for the EP’s title, is a creepy groove featuring ugly, distorted, “honking Sax” over which the band creepily intones “Gorelick” like a bloodthirsty zombie choir. The second track is a pretty straightforward punk tune, a cover of The Dead Kennedys’ “Kill the Poor” (nice sentiment). Things get interesting on track three, “Trivial Assault”, which veers from a riff that recalls Frank Zappa in his brilliant “Hot Rats” instrumental mode.

And so it goes. The EP runs six songs, 17 minutes. I can’t say much for Dillon’s vocals—mostly shouting, in classic punk fashion—but Skerik’s got it goin’ on as a saxophonist, and the band is tight, the ideas interesting, and the execution clever. When Houser distorts his bass and plays some chords on it on “Daddy Issues”, there’s some good rock riffing happening. Sure, the fidelity is not the highest—punk is supposed to sound like it was made in a garage— but if you like your punk with some jazz and Zappa mixed in, plus heaping doses of snarky humor, this is worth a listen or three.