The guitar jam's got a lot of bad press in recent years. And, really, with all the jam-band hippies wrecking the notion of a lengthy guitar jam, who can blame the world for hating the once-righteous Jam? These are dark days for lovers of the jam.

They're dark, but not quite dismal, as Chicago's Pinebender returns with a new lineup and a new album and its old love of slow, heavy guitar jams. The trio, which boasts a baritone guitar in lieu of a bass, slings sludge and distortion around with little regard to anything but the rippling musculature of its meaty riffs. Swimming through arrangements that move from glacial to mid-tempo, Pinebender evokes the same heft that made metal and grunge famous, though applies it to its sole purpose: the jam.

Working Nine to Wolf opens up with the quintessential Pinebender number, "Parade of Horribles," a 14-minute rocker that crawls through dynamics that take the band from sleepy, minimal riffs to sheens of fuzz-and-crunch bombast and back again. Although singer/guitarist Chris Hansen does a noble job of throwing vocals across the sea of distortion, they're a distant second to the band's tidal surge of guitars. The rest of Working Nine to Wolf is a little more succinct, but none less devoted to kicking out walls of guitars. "Mask Tree" and "Broadcast All Your Dreams" sizzle with the same guitar tones and lazy pacing that suggest a big bag of pot, a love of Dinosaur Jr. and the sort of make-it-up-as-you-go riffs and song structures that'll bring out your inner garage band. "Decide on the Double Cross" and "Polly Gray" unload a similarly sticky mess of noisy guitars and alt-rock dynamics, while "She Destroys the Light" moves back to the band's earlier focus, shooting for fragile minimalism that's eventually shattered by the act's sledgehammer dynamics.

The informal, almost improvisational, riffs that guide Working Nine to Wolf give it a loose and freewheeling feel, making a good show for listeners who remember when jam-style arrangements weren't the realm of hippies and jazz-funk-fusion goofs. Sure, Pinebender's meandering arrangements may make fans of succinct, linear songwriting a little impatient, but they also make it easy to wrap your ears in a veil of noise, distortion and grit that comes with Pinebender. So long as Pinebender's still around, the jam's in safe and able hands.