DESTINED SOLITAIRE

(solid 4.5) Its been far too long since I've heard a band grow outward without clinging inwardly to 'what works-(ed)' . The production is wonderful as well, making 'less' sound like 'more' as the instrumentation thins and the sound thickens - -psychedelically inclined yet concise--influenced yet experimental--daring and proud as they leap forwards, Beardfish builds on treasures past without becoming predictable. ...sure, the Zappa-esgue humor shoots through this platter both in note and word, and sure i hear traces of Floyd in the Keys , and-and.. so what--as the old saying reminds: "all musicians 'steal' , but the best steal from the best "; and how/why can this be avoided? Its osmosis fer chrissake, nature and nurture and the sound(s) that surrounds each of us during our own musical development and artistic walkabout. In other words : "our little boy has grow up" Touring has clearly armed these cats with 'road-chops' from hell, and, on 'Destined Solitaire', Beardfish takes this seemingly newfound tightness/togetherness and individual melodic-muscle into the studio like the proud fathers of newfound explosion. The 'wit' that many have either loved or hated is stronger and more acidic here than on previous outings. The anger is as hot as the "humor" and as cold as it is is pointed. this album was clearly written with a "for us"(band) attitude, that in this new 100 mp3's a second world is more than refreshing. Being a professional musician and guitar teacher for 30-some-odd years creates the unfortunate yearning to over-analyze the playing ... usually... not here; its a simple case of obvious expansion and improvement, nothing more, certainly nothing less. Choices (where should the B3 go?"-"should i play 'this' line?"--"how can this frame the lyric best?") have been made with bigger ears than those that created the lovable 'Sleeping In Traffic Part Two' and almost as lovable 'Part One' -- if these guys keep growing at this rate we'll have to shoot them from the Empire State building like a paisley King Kong with a victim of 'pop-culture' in his hand ... i always routed for Kong myself.

Cs