REVIEW: Phish, Farmhouse (Elektra Entertainment) - Matthew Carlin
Trey Anastasio is an excellent musician, an amazing guitarist and even a great composer. As a songwriter, however, he stinks. Whether he's wailing on '70s arena rock style anthems, strumming his way through dopey hippie ditties or whispering a country-fied Americana tune, his songs lack that magic element that makes music great. At his best, on a song like "Heavy Things," the first single from Farmhouse, he is simply adequate.
Where Anastasio's talent does lie -- and the same goes for the rest of Phish -- is in setting moods. Despite their legions of doggie paddling fans, Phish's ethereal jams have always owed more to Sun Ra and early-'70s Miles Davis than the Dead. When they loosen up and take structure, melody and rhythm into outer space, Phish can be truly sublime. Conversely, when Anastasio writes a hundred different intricate parts in distinct composerly fashion, Phish is also sublime, albeit in a cerebral way.
There are certainly winning elements on Farmhouse. Anastasio's guitar tone is fantastic, his solos are fluid and melodic without getting hokey like Jerry Garcia often did, the recording itself sounds live and punchy. On the whole, though, Farmhouse is just plain boring. The title track lacks a hook and pseudo ballads like "Bug" and "Sleep" rehash territory from Phish's past two studio albums.
When they eschew Anastasio's still weak voice and lyricist Tom Marshall's wretchedly shallow hippie lyrics ("When I jumped off, I had a bucket full of thoughts / When I first jumped off I held that bucket in my hand / Ideas that would take me all around the world" from "Back on the Train"), Phish still has some undeniable charms.
"The Inlaw Josie Wales" is a pretty instrumental with lovely accompaniment from Bela Fleck on banjo, Jerry Douglas on dobro and fine, subtle work from pianist Page McConnell; "Gotta Jibboo" is a fun and funky with a clever horn arrangement and nifty backing vocals that recalls Phish live circa 1996; and the rolling dark bass lines, tasty drums and, as always, fine guitar playing over the thankfully distorted vocals of "Sand" and the triplet polyrhythms of the vocal-free "First Tube" offer up some of what Phish is capable of.
Paring down his songs to their "essential" elements does not suit Anastasio and his band mates. The songs just aren't good enough to withstand such proverbial nudity. Phish fans have always preferred long, complicated pieces like "You Enjoy Myself" and the 30-minute jams that "Tweezer" turned in to live, because that's what the band is best at. Phish is not a radio friendly band, and never will be. When they try to be, it just ends up being uncomfortable for everybody.
