Trey Anastasio, Trey Anastasio July 26, 2002 - Courier Mail (PULSE) by Noel Mengel Album Review - Trey Anastasio Economy is not a word often associated with Phish, the band whose improvisational prowess and huge audiences as an American summer touring phenomenon earnt them constant comparisons to the Grateful Dead. But Phish started to rein in their style to something more suited to the recording studio on recent albums and their guitarist Anastasio carries on the trend on this solo debut, creating a point of difference from his old band with exotic beats, female vocalists, horns and plenty of aural colour. He even gets funky (in an Eric Clapton-out-front-of-Little Feat kind of way) on Money, Love And Change, while instrumental tunes like At The Gazebo and Ray Dawn Balloon feature tasty arrangements with brass and strings. Anastasio and friends can work up a monster groove but there aren't enough solid melodies to grab those who haven't been paying attention. The gently rippling folk-pop of Flock Of Words comes close, though, and at least you can't accuse Anastasio of sounding like all these dreary rock-by-numbers plodders being foisted upon us. © 2002 Nationwide News Limited