PHISH “Joy” – released 9/8/09 - phish.com
It’s been a long time since Phans have had a new studio disc from Fishman & co. Five years, in fact. Of course, a number of those years they weren’t even together anymore – seemingly for good this time.
I haven’t looked as forward to a CD release in a while, and yet rarely have been as disappointed with the release once it was in my stereo.
Of course, it’s arguable that anything so anticipated couldn’t possibly live up to expectations (“Phantom Menace,” anyone?), nor do I mean to say there aren’t some things to love about “Joy,” but it’s not an instant classic like “Rift” or “Billy Breathes.”
Maybe Burlington’s Phinest are merely trying to reclaim territory they already conquered from upstart, would-be usurpers who arose in their absence, but much of the material on “Joy” has a real “been-there, done-that” feel to my ears.
And yet, it’s exactly some of this shopworn material which pleases me the most among these 10 new tracks:
“Kill Devil Falls” recalls one of their earliest radio singles, “Chalk Dust Torture,” from 1992’s “A Picture of Nectar.” It chugs along in a passable rock-n-roll groove and is one of my favorite songs on this disc, yet lacks the ebullience in its execution which compelled me to drop everything and dance, or at least air-guitar, when “Chalk Dust Torture" was heard.
“Time Turns Elastic” certainly manages to masquerade as a classic Phish jam, clocking in at 13 minutes and change, and there’s never been a studio track of that chronological magnitude. But where an early epic like “The Divided Sky” or “Reba” succeeds without the benefit of a rabid audience to fuel its madness, “Time Turns Elastic” seems to merely hint at jams-to-come without ever actually jamming. It’s more akin to the carefully plotted, sprawling suites of Zappa, Rush, or Yes than to a Phish jam, but it certainly has the potential to blow the roof off a venue live, if allowed to breathe.
“Come hide in the herd and float with the flock,” from the anthropomorphic curiosity “Ocelot,” comes off like a quintessential Tom Marshall lyric – maybe a little too quintessential. For the uninitiated, Marshall is to Anastasio as John Perry Barlow is to Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, i.e. he cobbles together the trippy lyrics which make a Phish song so very Phishy when doled out over the psychedelic alchemy of the band’s musical structure (anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). There’ve been many of these kinds of songs in the Phish catalog and, though not nearly as cringingly embarrassing as “Guyute,” from 1998’s “The Story of the Ghost,” it has an undercurrent of Phish going through the motions.
Of course, I’d argue all of Phish’s albums since “Ghost” have had that feeling all the way through, and I’d like to state for the record I think “Joy” is definitely a stronger statement of purpose than any of those. Maybe it’s the burgeoning curmudgeon I find myself becoming in the second half of life, but “Joy” is just oozing with happiness, and it’s not like I don’t get the feeling they’re sincere about it (this is the first album they’ve released without major label backing), it’s just a bit much for me to endure from a Phish album. Wither something akin to the creepiness of “Tweezer,” or the playful menace of “Fee”?
The title track, “Joy,” starts in the same earnest, heartfelt vein as “Waste,” from 1996’s “Billy Breathes,” also produced by Steve Lillywhite – no slouch of a producer, I might add – but quickly veers into a blissful and uninteresting chorus which begs me to turn my frown upside-down. Personally, whenever some twirly-dancing flower child begins orbiting me at a show, it’s usually all I can manage not to punch their lights out.
Honestly, I’ve heard more interesting stuff from the members of Phish during their individual jaunts of the last few years and, while this reunion is not nearly the half-hearted train wreck the last one was (see their clunky read of “Chalk Dust Torture” from SNL at the dawn of their last reunion), I can only hope that this is merely the first toddling step into a brave new Phish world yet to come.
~ Chris Diestler, A.K.A. Toast
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