Released: 2004
Tracks: Plunger; Anchor Drops; In the Kitchen; Bullhead City; Miss Tinkle’s Overture; Uncommon; Jajunk Pt. I; 13 Days; Jajunk Pt. II; Walletsworth; Robot World; Mulche’s Odyssey; Wife Soup; The Pequod
Best track: In the Kitchen
Track to skip: Bullhead City
When Anchor Drops came out in 2004 these guys were getting a lot of press. Not only in the usual “jam band” mags like Relix, but also in other more traditional magazines. I thought it was odd that this band I’d never heard of suddenly was talked about everywhere, so I read some articles. Mentions of Phish, Zappa & King Crimson got me interested enough to check out a live show. It’s pretty rare that I’ll just go see someone based on what some magazine said, but I figured, why not, I’ll take a chance. The show was great; really surprised me how great it was, actually. So, I do the obvious next move and buy the band’s latest CD. Anchor Drops.
There’s both good and bad here, but for the most part it’s a solid “good”. Some stuff is certainly great. The thing I noticed immediately from the live show and also listening to this disc for the first time was that these guys have a strong Phish influence. It’s REALLY obvious they’ve listened to a lot of Phish as a band. I know it’s not always fair to say “oh, this band sounds just like this other band”, but it’s a bit too obvious in the case of Umphrey’s. From what I’ve heard, over the years they’ve slowly rid themselves of the overbearing Phish influence and are sounding more and more like themselves. Later live shows, DVDs & CDs confirm that they’re slowly growing into sounding like themselves. That’s a really good thing. Not that being influenced by Phish is a bad thing at all (I certainly am), but what was great about Phish was that they didn’t sound like anyone else. They sounded like PHISH. I really like Umphrey’s and I want them to get to that point where Phish is just one of the many influences that’s in the mix and not the primary one.
As a live band and on this studio album, they’ve already taken significant steps in breaking that influence. For one thing, UM brings out music that really isn’t touched on by any other jam band that I’ve heard. Their progressive influence is REALLY pronounced (loud and proud), but the thing that shocked the hell out of me and made me flip out was how they incorporate metal into their work. You see these guys play and it’s clear that the guitarists and drummer were serious metalheads growing up. Umphrey’s is definitely a GUITAR band. Jake Cinninger & Brendan Bayliss are great guitar players (especially Cinninger) and frequently play guitar licks that wouldn’t be out of place at an Iron Maiden or Steve Vai show. I’ve never heard a jam band play metal, real metal, like these guys do.
So, the metal’s here (in the guitar playing, not the overall music) and of course you have the usual jam staples of funk, jazz, blues, reggae, bluegrass, electronica…well, those all aren’t really staples of most jam bands. I think to some people the rampant eclecticism in UM might seem a bit forced and possibly pretentious, but to me they really nail it. For the most part; I’ll get to that in a sec. The music on Anchor Drops is *really* good, as well as the songs. These guys are damn good songwriters. Quality musicianship all around, esp. in the guitars. The one area of the band that’s severely lacking is in the vocal department. Bayliss is the primary vocalist and honestly, the dude can’t sing. Thankfully I’m more of a music person so I can just tune him out, but for most people I’m sure that would be an impassable hurdle. He could fill a backup vocal role just fine, but as a lead he can’t cut it. Jake Cinninger’s got a much better voice, nice and bluesy. It’s too bad he isn’t the primary lead vocalist. I understand why Brendan Bayliss is the lead singer, though. I mean, it’s his band. He started it, he writes most of the material (esp. most of the lyrics) and I fully understand why someone would want to sing their own songs. I just don’t think he cuts it as a vocalist.
Vocals aside, though, I really dig this album. Like I said, the songs are really well-written and the music is excellent on here. The best song of the lot is clearly In the Kitchen. It’s a total ass-shaker that has an absolutely killer riff and kick ass guitar playing. In my world, this would have been a hit single. Man, that chorus of Walletsworth? Totally kick ass. Also tracks like Plunger, Miss Tinkle’s Overture, The Pequod & Wife Soup are all great songs. The songwriting’s strong on here. There are a few missteps, especially in Bullhead City. This track really reminds me of Allison Krauss & Union Station and in a way it’s kind of the stereotypical jam band, “hey, check us out we can do country too”. You know, with obligatory female vocals and all. I like the track, but it really doesn’t fit with the rest of the album at all. Besides feeling a bit forced, the problem I have with it is the female vocal. Elliot Peck is her name and while she has a good voice, the parts she sings are pretty lame. Really it’s the chorus that gets me. She follows Jake Cinninger’s vocal by singing the last few words exactly like him, like an echo. It gets old after one phrase. Ugh, it’s just so unimaginatively uncreative. It really bugs the hell out of me. If the tune was arranged differently and she sang something else, I might enjoy it. As it stands, I always skip it. Other things I’ve gotta dock the album points on – the ending of Uncommon (an otherwise good song) feels so incomplete; it just ends out of nowhere. 13 days has some moments, but overall it’s not a very good composition. The beginning and ending arpeggiated bits are *really* cool though. Actually the suite of Jajunk I > 13 Days > Jajunk II doesn’t sit right. The last minute or so of Robot World is a bit strange. Almost like it’d be the end of the album (with more reprisal of the random streets of Chicago audio) … but then we get 3 more songs. Wife Soup, another song I really like, is at times too clever, especially with the scratchy “vinyl” sound that pops up throughout it.
So, what to say about it all? Great musicianship, really good songs, eclectic as hell, very fun music…but then you have bad vocals, some missteps in arranging, being too “clever” for their own good. I struggled with the rating for Anchor Drops, I admit it. I don’t think it’s quite “A” material, but it’s still really good. I don’t see this as being their best album; they clearly improve as they go along and with each new album and live show it’s always “better” and you can see them growing. I really don’t expect bands to put out a perfect album early in their careers. For the most part, it’s a good album.
Rating: 88
April 16, 2008, 
2:48 pm
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