Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard sits to my left smoking a Marlboro and drinking a longneck Bud, his eyes mere slits, his smile a crooked line across his face. "What do you mean how do I fit my style into the band?" he asks.

Well, with a degree in classical guitar from Eastern Michigan University, having studied with Christopher Parkening and Manuel Barrueco, was he dumbing down for the band and its new release Shot?

"What?" He looks at me vacantly, as if he has momentarily forgotten the question. Then he looks at David Yow, the Jesus Lizard's outrageous frontman singer, who shrugs at him. "I play what I play. There's no room for any fiddling around. It'd be out of context." Denison keeps his out-of-context-fiddling around for his alter ego, the jazz guitarist that plays as one half of the Denison/Kimball Trio, a trio that's really a duo. He uses The Jesus Lizard, that bulldozing outfit with a nitro-inspired rhythm section, for his more wrenching, more damaging work. And while Shot features the erudite guitarist in a variety of visceral settings, Denison's heart does ultimately lie in explosive rock. "After listening to a lot of jazz," he says in a burst of clarity, "I've rediscovered what I like most about guitar rock: the energy, being solid and playing in the pocket, and coming up with cool but not totally ridiculous chords." - Bob Gulla