In a measured move to reach well beyond his jam band origins,
Phish bassist
Mike Gordon offers
OGOGO, his fifth and most concise solo effort to date. That's not to say that the versatile New Englander hasn't already expanded his extracurricular forays into plenty of other wild and uncharted territories before now, but with
OGOGO he's created something particularly streamlined, pleasingly cohesive, and, more often than not,
un-Phishy. Produced by acclaimed Canadian engineer
Shawn Everett (
Alabama Shakes,
Weezer,
the War on Drugs), the album benefits from a thick, synth-heavy approach that blends quirky new wave elements reminiscent of
Talking Heads with the spacy psych tones of
the Flaming Lips. Clocking in at a scant two and a half minutes, opener "Equilibrium" dazzles in its own obtuse pop way, setting the bar high for the rest of
OGOGO's 13 cuts. Fortunately, there are plenty of other highlights along the way, from the chunky melodic groove of "Up and Down" to the infectious party pop tune "Let's Go." Even the sparsest cut, the dreamy lullaby "So Far Gone," benefits from
Everett's strangely layered technique, pairing guitarist Scott Murawski's gentle acoustic strumming and
Gordon's airy vocals with a distant yet massive arpeggiated synth line that carries throughout the entire track. Trimming away the excess jams and basing these songs around the resulting inspired nuggets,
Gordon and Murawski -- who share a long history of songwriting collaboration -- have landed on a winning formula and, with
Everett's bold influence, the stars are in alignment on what is one of the most enjoyable albums of
Gordon's career. ~ Timothy Monger