Phillip Roebuck will never be explained in writing. Writing does no justice to what Phillip Roebuck does. He plays a banjo at breakneck speed. He is a one-man band that bashes away at a bass drum and tambourine on his back. See, it just doesn't sound right, does it? It conjures images of Groundskeeper Willy yelling, "I'm a maniac, MANIAC!" rather than the image of what Phillip Roebuck actually is and what Phillip Roebuck actually does. What Phillip Roebuck does is incredible! It's that simple and it deserves repeating. What Phillip Roebuck does is incredible!
Fever Pitch is Roebuck's second one-man band installment proper. Recorded at Steve Albini's Electric Studios in Chicago, it is an explosion of banjo, drums, hollers, and yells. Raucous from start to finish, guttural at times, doleful at others, the drums pound like a jackhammer, the vocals are all delivered with a plaintive drawl and the banjo is played in frenzied paroxysms. Opening with single "Monkey Fist", Fever Pitch begins with a bang and never really stops. Only the mournful dirges of "Movement" and "Can I Keep You" really slow a pace that is, otherwise, gaining momentum all the time. Crashing to a close through the trio of "Come On Home", "Love For The Damned" and "Travel Light" all strident, all thudding their way past, drums like thunder, at the pace of lightening, Fever Pitch ends all to quickly.
The music world right now needs artists like Phillip Roebuck. Not because he is a throwback to a long forgotten time. His music carries far too many modern resonances and influences for that. The music world needs artists like Phillip Roebuck because the music world has become a place of hype and over-hype. Where self-publicity and braggidociousness have replaced talent and ability. Roebuck doesn't play to hype, doesn't play to the demands of the wider music world. He just plays on his albums the way he played his songs in the New York Subway. Somehow, his songs are accessible and melodic when so many of his contemporaries seem unable to remain so, yet still carry enough eccentricity to be truly defined against the grim pictures of the underground's current cool set. Fever Pitch is the only album you need this year.
