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Music > Reviews > Umphrey's McGee Umphrey's McGeeMantis(Sci-Fidelity) US release date: 20 January 2009 UK release date: Available as import By Evan SawdeyPopMatters Interviews Editor It happens to everyone at least once in their life. It’s hands-down one of the worst experiences a person can go through, and it almost makes you question your faith in humanity. That’s right: it’s that rare moment in time when your favorite band releases a terrible album. Sadly, that time has now come for me and Umphrey’s McGee. Mantis shows these Chicago-based jam-jockeys moving from song-oriented compositions to full-blown prog-rock territory, and though this step seems logical on paper, the execution is completely marred. Back in 2002, the band dipped their toes into the mainstream with the decently distributed and indifferently received Local Band Does OK, a good but not especially noteworthy post-Phish jam-rock album that showed a sprawling ambition which was lacking only in focus and pacing. After unleashing several albums on the fledgling Sci-Fidelity label—each disc improving upon the last—the band reached a creative peak with 2007’s The Bottom Half, an “odds and sods” disc of material culled from the recording sessions for 2006’s Safety in Numbers that somehow managed to outstrip its parent disc in terms of sheer quality. Though Umphrey’s had become famous for their onstage jam sessions (or “Jimmy Stewarts” as they’re known amongst the hardcore), their creative energy transferred to the studio with remarkable ease. The bonus disc on The Bottom Half showed the guys at one point doing a straight-up disco version of the song “Red Room” at the drop of a hat, totally spontaneously and completely in unison with each other. A stopgap live release only confirmed what everyone had already known: Umphrey’s McGee were arguably the best jam band to be working today. Much has been made of the fact that when it came to recording Mantis, the band didn’t go about their usual routine of road-testing songs in development and adjusting them as they saw fit. Instead, they holed themselves up in a studio and pounded away at the prog-leaning Mantis for weeks and weeks, doing their best to keep the new music under wraps until its formal CD release. For those who feared that this new recoding procedure would lead the group towards total musical introversion: well, it happened. Never before has Umphrey’s resorted to using a 36-second “Preamble” to launch into a song, much less following that interlude with something as horribly disjointed as the nearly 12-minute title track. During “Mantis”, the group tries everything, from rolling guitar crescendos to crashing string sections to wild Guitar Hero-worthy six-string freakouts. There’s truly something for everyone this time out—but therein lies the problem. None of the songs on Mantis are built upon a solid melodic base: they just drift off into the ether without accomplishing anything. Though Mantis is filled with clever little moments, the flashes of genius are lost in the haphazard, pastiche-like framework of the album. Perfect for those with attention deficit disorder; annoying for everyone else. Mantis opens with the showtune-worthy “Made to Measure”, a solid if somewhat unremarkable romp that actually slyly references the band’s fantastic Bottom Half/Safety in Numbers track “Intentions Clear” in Brendan Bayliss’ lyrics, while the rest of the band tries to stay afloat amidst the woodwind and string sections the swarm around the track. “Turn & Run”, meanwhile, starts off like classic Umphrey’s: a simple acoustic riff is soon decked out with a fantastic keyboard melody and Bayliss’ everyman vocal emoting. Then, around the two-minute mark, the band are suddenly overcome with the compulsion to go all Emerson, Lake & Palmer on us and send their keyboards out into the atmosphere, while trying to create the most abstract sounds they can on their guitars, before turning to a glockenspiel for inspiration. (If it sounds like a mess, that’s because it is.) None of it ties together as a cohesive unit, but the fact that “Turn & Run” returns to its initial melody makes it a welcome exception from the rest of the album (even if the fact that it devolves into a pointless guitar-noodling experiment somewhat dampens its effect). Most of Mantis continues in this vein, coming off as one long studio jam session instead of being built around actual songs, which explains why tracks like “Red Tape” and the moody “Cemetery Walk” have none of the staying power of earlier highlights like “Words” , “Higgins”, “In the Kitchen”, or even “White Man’s Moccasins”. Only once does the band’s humor and heightened sense of melody shine through, and that’s on Mantis’ most disposable track: the goofy “Cemetery Walk II”, in which the group take a keyboard riff from the first “Cemetery Walk” and turn it into a full-fledged dance number, showing that the electronic experiments they tried on earlier songs like “Atmosfarag” were most certainly not in vain. I don’t doubt that tracks like the rock-oriented “1348” and the twisting “Spires” will sound great in a live setting, but on record, they’re dry, cumbersome, and lacking any of the immediacy that makes Umphrey’s other albums such a joy to listen to. By taking themselves so damn seriously, the group have lost sight of what made them special in the first place. Mantis is—without question—their first outright terrible album. Yet perhaps Umphrey’s were due: you can’t have as good a streak as they’ve had without succumbing to mediocrity at least once. If this is their misstep, so be it. Hopefully it just clears the way for the band’s return to form in the future. After all, once you become an Umphreak, there’s no going back.
— 17 February 2009
 Related ArticlesUmphrey’s McGee: 29 December 2009 - ChicagoBy Dan Hyman28.Jan.10 Live shows aren’t simply a promotional tool for the six laid-back musicians from the Midwest. They are mechanisms by which to display their passion for music-plain and simple. Matisyahu + Umphrey’s McGee: 9 July 2009 - Central Park SummerStage, New YorkBy Thomas Hauner23.Jul.09 Words and Pictures by Thomas Hauner 
Umphreys McGee: Live at the MuratBy Tony Sclafani10.Jan.08 Two hours (!) of evocative improvisations. Not bad. |
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Comments
That was quite possibly the worst album review I’ve ever read. If you think that “The Bottom Half” is the pinnacle of their recording career to date, you need to get your ears checked out.
I feel dumber for having read that lame excuse for an objective review, you should consider a different career path.
Comment by Terrible from USA — February 25, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
Reviews like this make me laugh more than anything else. Mantis is nothing less than another brilliant album by a great band. Now, a great band would not deserve the title if every album released sounded like the prior. What’s the point? Why was Pink Floyd so great? Every album was distinct. You could hear a song and trace its source. While the song retained the band’s original sound, it still acquired a new, distinct style. That’s where the excitement of buying the new album always originated: you never knew what sound would leave your speakers. And so comes the beauty of experimenting. Void of that is a mediocre band, which Umphrey’s on their worst night is not.
The best of painters do not paint in the same style on every painting; that would bore their fans. As such, the best of musicians do not record the same sounds on every album, for that too would bore their fans. Umphrey’s McGee understands this, and so Umphrey’s McGee experimented. Whether they did it for themselves or the fans is irrelevant, it only proves their devotion to creativity. The trade-off, inevitably, is that some will be attached to one album’s style more so than another. But even if the album doesn’t work for them, they know the next one will be a new sound anyway.
Some like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, while others like Wish You Were Here. These are two dissimilar albums each with different strokes of genius. Pink Floyd would be far less talented if every album sounded the same. The same applies to Umphrey’s McGee. Mantis sounds like Mantis, and Local Band Does O.K. sounds like Local Band Does O.K. Some like one more than the other, while others like them all. But at least we can deny the predictability of the next album. This denial is what puts Umphrey’s McGee among the best.
Comment by Ariel from Washington, DC — February 25, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
And Umphrey’s is your favorite band? I sure pity the poor saps who are not.
Never have I seen a review of music I am familiar with that so sounds like it was talking about a completely different album altogether. Mantis is not only the best thing Umphrey’s McGee has ever done, it is a brilliant piece of musical craftsmanship that stands a chance of becoming a classic. The fact that some of the arrangements are too complex for you personally to process is no excuse for this horribly slipshod and inaccurate review.
Comment by Chris from East Tennessee — February 25, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
First of all, Chris from east tennesee, your an idiot. The reviewer is not saying that mantis is complex at all, what he’s saying it, and this is COMPLETE FACT, that umphrey’s changed from jam to “full blown progressive rock”. Progressive rock is simpler, and probably apeals much more to someone like you, who jacks off to mainstream and is so oblivious to any other kind of music.
I understand where your comming from Aerial, but i still think that mantis was lacking, even though i like the idea of not doing the same exact type of music every album. But you contradicted yourself. Mantis if the first umphrey’s album that sticks to one genre. And it sticks to it completely, its all rock, and all the same within the confinds of the album.
Comment by Alex from Chicago — February 26, 2009 @ 9:03 am
I agree with terrible…Mantis is fucking amazing! You are a writer for popmatters.com you dbag you have no idea you’re talking about!
Comment by fabo from usa — March 20, 2009 @ 5:00 pm
To fabo - i can tell mantis is not my favorite album because of people like you who have sided with mantis, and give no argument whatsoever and accuse the reviewer of being a dbag because he doesn’t share your opinion. Quit spreading ignorance and if you really believe mantis is even good, you should give some details. Without that, you look so immature.
Comment by Alex — April 6, 2009 @ 7:50 am
Evan, I respect your views but I have to disagree. I think Mantis is a work of art that I will continue to listen to for years to come. You claim Mantis is “Perfect for those with attention deficit disorder; annoying for everyone else. ” but I feel it’s quite the opposite. Mantis consists of such layered complexity that it requires attention and repetition of listening to appreciate it fully. I must admit that the first time I listened to the title track I had a similar opinion that it was a little “disjointed”, but as I became more familiar with the song I began to recognize it’s brilliance. I think you were too quick to dismiss the album because it wasn’t what you expected. I’d like to see a follow up review, to know if you’re opinion has changed now that you’ve presumably heard the songs more.
Comment by Alex from Boulder — July 11, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
wow that is def the worst review i have ever read in my entire life!!! saying the bottom half is there best work. wait, wait ok i get it your joking thats pretty funny i must say. but if your serious you really need to look into another profession. go check out some yanni that’ll probably be more up your alley. never met a deaf music critic before this is a first!!
Comment by jeffrey from buffalo — July 14, 2009 @ 11:22 am
The review is actually prettly well written, and you may possibly have a career in journalism. But not in reviewing music. Everything you have stated about this band and this album is wrong. Mantis is a brilliant piece of work and my favorite CD of 2009 hands down. By the way, Umphrey’s is also my favorite band.
Comment by johnson from the south — July 14, 2009 @ 11:38 am
If you personally thought the album is bad, that’s one thing. The composition of this album is absolutely amazing and to give such an elaborate review of how you don’t like it rather than the music itself makes yourself look like a fool and lose all credibility as any sort of music critic.
Comment by Luke from Buffalo — July 14, 2009 @ 3:57 pm