Back from their two-year hiatus, the four members of Phish reunited for a jam session to rehearse for their upcoming New Years run of shows. This studio release was born out of that four-day rehearsal. It’s quite an amazing accomplishment for a 12 track, 70-minute disc to be produced in such little time as four days. That should stand as a testament to how much ability this accomplished band has. But does that feat necessarily translate into a high-quality listen?

I must admit after my first full listen through, I was immediately thinking quite a low rating here. But then I threw my special Phish listening ear on and had to raise that bar a bit. This band requires a unique ear to appreciate them and luckily I have one. The playing here is kept in control and doesn’t stray too crazy, even though I wish it would have at certain times. The boys ultimately piece together an uneven, but noteworthy effort.

‘Pebbles and Marbles’ is a good attempt to send a message of “hey, we are back.” Reminding me of a bye-gone Rift era, this one ventures around and will surely be one of their new staples on the upcoming tour. Next up comes ‘Anything But Me’ which is a slow, yet upright melody. ‘Round Room’ is a curious track as it piques your interest with its bizarre nature. Gordon’s outlandish vocal delivery here makes this a strangely enjoyable tune that is quite a welcome addition to the Phish collection.

‘Mexican Cousin’ suffers through a rough start before absolutely blasting off. Seriously, they should have left the first 1:07 on the chopping block and used the final 2:08 as the song alone. That section soars nice and high. ‘Friday’ receives much of the same treatment as it sluggishly makes its way through the beginning 3:50 before slipping into something more comfortable for the final 2:42. Yeah, that’s it baby. From this point, we get ‘Seven Below’ which gets the jamming going a bit, but ultimately is nothing too startling. Still, decent though. On those heels comes ‘Mock Song’, which angles itself on a silly slant.

And then, Oh Yeah! Finally we are treated to some classic Phish, here with ’46 Days.’ With a damn badass opening, this groove really throws us a bone to chew on with its much-welcomed energy. True Phishheads will find a smile surely growing back on their face with this undertaking. Setting that sweet energy aside, ‘All of these Dreams’ shows up after such a tough act to follow, but finds a pleasant vibe to go with. Next on this musical ticket is a beginning that sounds vaguely familiar. Could it be ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home?’ On the contrary, as it is ‘Walls of the Cave’, which turns into something special and finds nice intensity at the end. What comes next, in the shape of ‘Thunderhead’, ends up sounding like a speed bump along this road. Love that little groove in there at both vocal endings, but it’s too small a helping to rescue this one. With that said, we make our way to the final track of the album in ‘Waves’, which unearths an extended mellow jam for it’s beginning before settling on a nice surf to ride on.

Knowing, with this band, that you must accept the bad with the good in that the rewards will always fall to the positive side to more than even things out, these guys had a bit of trouble as they cast their hook out at me with initial listen. However, as an old astute disciple, the further in depth I listened, the more I took their bait once again. Oh yeah, I do remember these guys. Welcome back and see you on tour. 2.5 planets find themselves swimming again in this P42 universe.

Track Listing:
1. Pebbles and Marbles
2. Anything But Me
3. Round Room
4. Mexican Cousin
5. Friday
6. Seven Below
7. Mock Song
8. 46 Days
9. All of these Dreams
10. Walls of the Cave
11. Thunderhead
12. Waves

Shamples Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Planets


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