fresh Phish

 




Phish is back with a new studio full-length, Big Boat. Recommended for those who prefer the melodic side of their catalog.

For those of us who enjoy Phish, it is always nice to find some fresh ones. I had a live Phish experience in Saratoga Spings NY recently, and they are still on top of their game.

This record gets off to a strong start, with the opening track, Friends. I must say there are some sing-song-y chorus parts on this record that are a bit too tame for my taste - it seemed like the "song" parts of their songs were edgier back in the 90's.. maybe that is just a symptom of growing on.

Nonetheless, the instrumentals are solid throughout, in the way I had hoped for. No Men is a stand-out track. Has all the elements of a good phish. Open space in your head. funky bass grooves. psychedelic ramblings.

see it live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxWa3vdnPS8

Miss You starts off slowly, maybe a bit dull, but really picks up mid-way through and turns into a free space anthem.

Things People Do and Running Out of Time are total skippers.. not sure what happened there.

Phish has always had a special ability to bend and blur our sense of time.. stretching out our attention in a single song to fill 30 minutes by the clock, or to indulge a theme throughout multiple movements. This record is more concise, with songs that begin and end almost.. predictably. Only one song over 7 minutes long and the whole thing finishing in just under an hour. There is more song craftsmanship here, and less indulgent improv. For example, Home plays out a bit sing-song-y until the 3:30 mark, then it digresses into a classic phish rant, and still wraps up before 6:30.

Although I should note that many of these songs play out over longer time scales live.

Phish is a band that continues to remain creative to put on great shows with a mix of fresh material and classics.. simple when you've got bebops and skyscrapers in the band.