LAWN BOY

The Jam Band scene occupy a sort of middle ground for me and many other Progheads. The musicians are immensely talented, the music is ambitious and the compositions are often excellent. However it is also true that most of these bands are more inspired by Country and Bluegrass by way of the Grateful Dead, than the Jazz Fusion and Prog Rock that Phish employed. I was heavily into Phish during High School and i hold this album as their best. There is an energy in this album that i found lacking on "Junta", and "Picture Of Nectar" was a rather tedious attempt by Trey Anastasio to sound like his hero, Santana. After the following album "Rift" however, i do not care one bit for Phish. It was the earthly Jazzy Prog sound, that attracted me to their music in the first place and as for their mythical live performances, it is hard to care about them when neither Phish nor the Jam Band scene which they are a part of has ever made any real attempts to market themselves or itself outside of the USA.

Speaking of Trey Anastasio, i have long heralded him as Rock 'N' Rolls most underrated Guitarist, and this album only adds to that belief. "Reba" and especially "The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony" are brilliant and sees him employ both the beautiful washes he is known for and some seriously nimble fingered Dixieland picking. The title track and "Bouncing Around The Room" are very harmonius and a testament to both Anastasios incredible feeling and the Bands compositional brilliance.

At the end of the day,any Phishhead will tell you that no studio album can do the band justice, and while that may be true i am not as dedicated as most of their fans. I simply like good music, and this is a Cozy, Jazzy, Folksy little record wich i rank as one of the best.