Abulum
Glen Phillips
Red Brick Records BR50001-2
Here's the news - Former Toad The Wet Sprocket vocalist Glen Phillips is on acoustic tour, hitting North Carolina right about now - Ziggy's in Winston-Salem 8/6, Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill 8/7 and The Handlebar in Greenville 8/8. Toad was one of the most popular bands of the nineties, and one of the few to which the term, "enduring" might be applied. The band broke up in '97, but their music is still played fairly often on radio, in jukeboxes and in homes. Glen Phillips was responsible for a lot of those lasting lyrics and most of their delivery.
On his own, to judge from Abulum, he's a lot folksier than Toad ever was, and he sounds more confident relying on his own storyline lyrics than on a whole band. It's like Randy Newman for a new millennium, and that's not a bad thing at all. This is going to sell and be listened to by Toad the Wet Sprocket fans, folkies, lovers of pop and a good chunk of the 25-54 market if they just find out about it. So, share this review with them. |