Though Bump have been playing together for just over a year, the Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based rock band can actually trace their roots back to the late-‘90s jamband scene, when Todd Pasternack, Bump’s guitarist and vocalist, says listeners found themselves asking: “How long will these guys jam, and will they make it back in one piece?” During this era, Pasternack played with the Upstate New York group Ominous Seapods before recording with Lo Faber of God Street Wine. It was with the Lo Faber Band that Pasternack met Angela Ford, who would eventually become his wife and Bump’s bassist.

Bump are very much a product of that jamband golden age— Pasternack replaced founding Seapods guitarist Max Verna in 1998 and remained with the seminal improv group until they veered off the road in 2001—but what brought Ford, Pasternack and drummer Greg Nash together more than 10 years later, Pasternack explains, was the idea that there was “this other part of humanity—this other part of the way people actually live life” that wasn’t represented in the scene. He admits that he all too often found himself in a situation where he was simply jamming for the sake of jamming, without any “connecting thread” between the song and jam. With the release of Bump’s debut album, Broken Fix, in October, the band offers a set of honest, relatable songs with a consistent mood throughout the lyrics, compositions and improvisations. On the album’s second track, “Wrecking Ball,” Ford sings of an inescapable downward spiral, her words languishing in a looping arrangement. The jam that follows suits the song’s title well and adheres to the grungy message of the lyrics.

Bump played most of the tracks on Broken Fix for several months in the live setting before recording them live in a barn in Cambridge, N.Y. Whether it’s a live show or playing in a bucolic shed, Bump feels safe taking musical risks, Pasternack says. The band is looking to expand their touring radius in 2016 but isn’t looking to be a traditional touring juggernaut.

“This is our platform for expression, and whether we’re going to play in front of five people or 5,000 people, we’re going to keep doing it because it’s fulfilling for us,” Pasternack affirms. “We’re excited about this music and we’ve already started writing more.”