Widespread Panic
DON’T TELL THE BAND
(SANCTUARY)

For improvisatory musicians it can be thrilling to explore technique in public: at best you dazzle the audience, and at worst they know you’re not rehashing the same solo. Many rock bands who indulge in this jam spirit come off as if they were wading in melody and harmony, with no idea of where home is. But Athens’s Widespread Panic craft seemingly freeform passages into actual songs. Britpop choruses crawl out from the meandering and murky psychedelia of " Imitation Leather Shoes. " Crunchy blues rockers like " Give " and " Action Man " are jam-packed with an Allman Brothers–esque jazzy blues that doesn’t impede the full-speed-ahead course of the rhythm section. The sextet excel at hazy twang: " Little Lilly, " " Down, " " Big Wooly Mammoth/Tears of a Woman, " and " Don’t Tell the Band " are lush and sprawling. The guitar break on " Little Lilly " is lyrical enough to seem composed, as if at that moment the soloist had stumbled upon a magical string of notes that functions as a song within a song. The unsuccessful experiments are the tumbleweed flamenco number " Casa del Grillo, " which comes off like, " Hey, we can even do Latin groove, " and a cover of fIREHOSE’s " Sometimes, " which has all the elements of ’60s garage rock — spidery church-organ melodies, tinny guitars, and braying saxes — except for the most important one: ragged soul.

Issue Date: July 12 - 19, 2001