Phish - Sci-Fi Soldier (2021)

Phish have just released their new album, entitled 'Get More Down', performed by their alter-egos Sci-Fi Soldier. Sci-Fi Soldier come from the distant future in an attempt to save the home planet of a group of ancient prophets (Kasvot Växt of Earth) from a self-inflicted apocalyptic event called The Howling, set to take place in 2071. Using the prophets' teachings about the "nine cubes", which allow you to freeze time and view nine possible realities, the Sci-Fi Soldiers embark on a quest to find the great oracle, Holy Blankenstein, and learn how to stop The Howling (put a blank space where Earthlings’ minds should be on 10/31/21). They travel back to 2021 to find human vessels to use for the task, riding the time stream to Earth, and set out as the members of Phish (Clueless Wallob as Trey Anastasio, Pat Malone as Page McConnell, Paulie Roots as Jon Fishman, and Half-Nelson as Mike Gordon) to save the planet by helping it "get more down". 

Phish had actually previewed this set of songs a year ago, in their Halloween "musical costume", which was performed as the invented band Sci-Fi Soldier on 31 October 2021. Fans who attended the gig in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, were given a 14-page comic book on entry, which detailed the group's adventure to save the planet. The booklet is packed with fun sci-fi and comic tropes, veiled environmental allegories, and attempts at universe-building within the Phish canon a la Marvel or D.C. In true Phish fashion, the narrative is strange, silly, and packed with in-jokes. For the set itself the band performed in elaborate costumes (helmets and all), with alternate instruments (Trey on a BCR Mockingbird), each playing within a flashing/glowing shape (two circles and two squares), after descending (in the form of holograms) from the ceiling in cylinders of coloured light. 

'Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue' included extended choreography by Trey and Mike, while during 'Get More Down' matching upright geometric shapes danced around behind the band, reducing to the two circles overlapped by 'Egg In A Hole', which featured pyrotechnics. Before 'Clear Your Mind', Trey introduced the band as from the year 4680, and during 'The 9th Cube' there were projections of donuts and turtles on a cube above the band. Fireworks rained down on the stage during 'The Inner Reaches Of Outer', and for the closer 'I Am In Miami', Trey switched to an acoustic guitar and the band stood together at stage front with the four-mic a cappella setup. After the set, the band departed as holograms back up the coloured tubes. The album versions of these songs are quite concise, but the live takes stretch them out considerably, extending the three tracks which last less than a minute on the album to over five minutes in a live setting, while others top the ten-minute mark. If you like what you hear then do check out the studio version and support the band. 

Track listing

01 Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue
02 Get More Down
03 Egg In A Hole
04 Thanksgiving
05 Clear Your Mind
06 The 9th Cube
07 The Inner Reaches Of Outer
08 Don’t Doubt Me
09 The Unwinding 
10 Something Living Here
11 The Howling
12 I Am In Miami