Oysterhead Technically Inpressive, Lacking Live Unity

Author: Bryan McQuade Staff Writer

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, Primus bassist Les Claypool, and drummer Stewart Copeland, formerly of The Police, performed as Oysterhead on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts. The group has been performing nationally for the last month to promote their new album, The Grand Pecking Order.

Though not as hard-hitting as Primus albums, The Grand Pecking Order is primarily influenced by Claypool. His unique vocals and signature bass lines are present throughout the 13 track album, and provide the driving force for many of the songs. Anastasio provides an interesting twist with his masterful guitar licks and Copeland backs the trio with a consistently solid rhythm, but their contributions are somewhat shadowed by Claypool's distinct style.

The musicianship on the album is technically remarkable, but the end result leaves something to be desired. Rather than a fusion of the three musicians' styles, the album comes across more like diluted Primus. The tracks "The Grand Pecking Order" and "Shadow of a Man" are essentially straight-up Primus, with few novel contributions from Anastasio or Copeland. "Birthday Boys" and "Radon Balloon," written by Anastasio, do add variety to the mix, but are less enjoyable than the Claypool compositions, and the album might be better served without them. Anastasio's most impressive guitar contribution comes during "Mr. Oysterhead," but is unfortunately lost behind Claypool's bass lines and Copeland's drumming. "Oz Is Ever Floating" and "Owner of the World" are the saving graces of the album. In both songs, each musician contributes to the mix, and Claypool and Anastasio trade off backing one another on vocals. Both are somewhat poppy, but provide for an enjoyable listen, and, unlike the other tracks, do not result in a compromise of the musicians' styles.

The most impressive musicianship on the album, and by far the most consistent, is that of Stewart Copeland. After a 20-year hiatus from the music scene, Copeland is as good as ever. Playing with Anastasio and Claypool is in no way similar to backing Sting, but Copeland manages to root the group with drumming that is in many ways more impressive than his work with The Police. Copeland's drumming does a lot to make up for the shortcomings of the rest of the album.

Knowing that Anastasio and Claypool are respected for their live performances more than for their studio work, I anticipated a better showing during their concert in Lowell this past Saturday. However, the show was somewhat disappointing. Anastasio and Claypool seemed to lack the energy they are known for on stage, as if they were already tired of the short Oysterhead tour. In fact, it almost seemed as if the duo were intimidated in each other's presence. Neither was willing to take a strong lead during the majority of the songs, which resulted in a compromise of the abilities of both musicians. The set was surprisingly short, and the band seemed to be merely "going through the motions," expressing little excitement and hardly interacting with the crowd. Claypool did get excited towards the end of the set when an audience member appeared in the front row wearing an oyster hat. He pointed the individual out, saying "this one's for you, Oysterhead." The band proceeded to play an energized version of "Mr. Oysterhead" to close the set. A one-song encore followed to close out the show, which was at best a mediocre performance.

Oysterhead has all the elements of a super-trio. However, the styles of Claypool and Anastasio are too different to cohere, and the result is an impressive display of technical ability that is overshadowed by songs that unfortunately aren't very enjoyable.