Tom Moon takes a look at "Billy Breathes" January 15, 1997 - NPR By Tom Moon Album Review - Billy Breathes Phish Review Music reviewer Tom Moon takes a look at "Billy Breathes", the latest release from the heirs-apparent to the Grateful Dead, the rock band Phish. He says that their music has come along way from the days of simple folk-tinged jamming, and their lyrics have now caught up to the rest of the technical abilities of the band. NOAH ADAMS, HOST: In its decade-long march from bar band to arena headliner, the Vermont quartet known as Phish has done just about everything right. It used the Internet to develop a community of involved fans, and quietly marketed its improvisational jamming as an alternative to alternative rock. Following the example of The Grateful Dead, Phish emphasized live performance over recording, and has become one of the top concert draws in the industry. Reviewer Tom Moon says that on the new CD "Billy Breathes", Phish finally focuses on the music itself. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP OF SONG FROM PHISH CD "BILLY BREATHES") TOM MOON, MUSIC REVIEWER: It used to be easy to make fun of Phish. From a distance, the band and its fans looked like members of a secret society of indulgence. Phish offered gibberish lyrics, and 20-minute guitar excursions. And its mostly college-age fans ate it all up. Treating live tapes like tablets of rare wisdom, these Phish-heads spent hours defining the possible meanings of every quirk. They rhapsodized over solos the jazz musicians would dismiss as routine. Critics, meanwhile, remained puzzled. Phish in the early years was mostly notable for oddities: the drummer who wore a dress on stage and played the vacuum cleaner, those overly-earnest barber shop quartet harmonies. PHISH GROUP, SINGING UNKNOWN SONG: And we're glad, glad, glad that you're alive. And we're glad, glad, glad that you'll arrive. And we're glad, glad, glad, glad, glad, glad, glad. And we're glad, glad, glad that you're a glide. (END AUDIO CLIP) MOON: Now, something radical has happened to Phish. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP OF SONG FROM PHISH CD "BILLY BREATHES) UNKNOWN SINGER FROM PHISH, SINGING UNKNOWN SONG: I can talk the talk with you... MOON: The purveyors of clunky, odd-meter dance music and scronky (ph) shuffles are writing real songs with verses and choruses, and even the occasionally celebratory refrain. MUSIC RISES SINGER: A (inaudible) lesson (inaudible) I can talk the talk with you. MOON: That's one of the more revealing compositions on the CD "Billy Breathes", a moment when Phish lets go of its frivolous lyrics to sing about something genuine, in this case, the things that hinder communication in a relationship. The band's seventh album, which was produced by veteran Steve Lilywhite (ph) is full of that kind of magic. (END AUDIO CLIP) MOON: Once obtuse, Phish now strives for clarity. Once almost an instrumental band, it now concentrates on vocal harmonies that evoke the sunny landscapes of Southern California. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP OF "AMERICAN BEAUTY" FROM PHISH CD "BILLY BREATHES") MOON: Some of "Billy Breathes" recalls The Grateful Dead's classic "American Beauty". MUSIC RISES UNKNOWN SINGERS FROM PHISH, SINGING "AMERICAN BEAUTY": In a minute, I'll be free. And you'll be splashing in the sea. We'll hear a tiny cry. As the ship goes sliding by. Free. Free. MOON: The four Phish-men aren't just jamming anymore. They actually want to be understood. Enormously-gifted guitarist Trey Anastacio (ph) still gets to show off. But now, he does so to enhance the mood rather than control it. As a a result, even the basic rhythm section grooves display uncommon intensity. (END AUDIO CLIP) (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP OF "CHARACTER ZERO" FROM PHISH CD "BILLY BREATHES") MOON: Listen to the way Phish brings the stomping, all-too-typical backbeat of "Character Zero" to life. MUSIC RISES UNKNOWN PHISH SINGERS, SINGING "CHARACTER ZERO": Now I'm convinced the whole day long, that all I learn is always wrong. The things are true that I forget. But no one taught that to me yet. I see the man walking (ph). I see the man walking. I see the man walking... MOON: Even before the death of Jerry Garcia, Phish was viewed as the band mostly likely to succeed the Dead. On the surface, it has already accomplished that. It draws the big crowds and inspires similar nomadic devotion. Fans do follow this band from city to city to catch every show. But up until "Billy Breathes" it had not shown much desire to experiment the way the Dead did, to retool the whole sound, to reinvent itself. Phish took the plunge this time. And the rewards are obvious: music that's as intelligent as anything that it has done before, and for the first time, intelligible as well. ADAMS: Our reviewer is Tom Moon, the CD is "Billy Breathes" by Phish. (END AUDIO CLIP) SIEGEL: It's NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. Article © 1997 NPR