Paper Wheels

Following in the footsteps of “ Traveler ,” “Paper Wheels” is the new studio offering by Trey Anastasio. The wheels begin turning with ‘Sometime After Sunset.’ With a Phish sense of lyrical philosophy, ‘The Song’ is uplifting and life affirming. It’s one of those songs that makes you feel good, even though you’re not entirely sure why since the lyrics don’t have a literal meaning. In contrast, ‘Never’ is forgettable. Talk about a song with legs, ‘In Rounds’ is one of the album’s smashing highlights. The whimsical sing-along lyrics will play through your mind long after the song ends: ‘Skinny little legs / like marionettes / with heads removed / she forgets.’ (Without the music, the words are bound to be lost in translation.) As one of Trey’s best new songs, it’s pure bliss. And yet ‘Flying Machines’ is a dull clunker. ‘Invisible Knife’ and ‘Lever Boy’ are enjoyable. ‘Liquid Time’ has some beautiful brass work, but it’s another of those ‘okay’ tunes. The title track is another sparkler. Given the quirky lyrics, ‘Paper Wheels’ could very well be a Phish song. Another highlight is ‘Bounce,’ which could serve as the TAB (Trey Anastasio Band) sequel to ‘Bouncing Around the Room.’ Hopefully this will become a live staple in the coming years. The album finishes with two more discards: ‘Speak to Me’ and ‘Cartwheels.’ In contrast to Trey’s previous body of work with TAB, this is a more straight-up Rock effort with a focus on songs, not jams. There’s less of an emphasis on the brass section and the non-Rock genres like Afrobeat, Jazz, and Reggae. (Speaking of Reggae, let's hope that someday we get an official release of TAB's rendition of the Bob Marley song ‘Soul Rebel.’) Also, these arrangements are less ambitions as “Paper Wheels” has no equivalent to a ‘Burlap Sack and Pumps’ or even a ‘Scabbard.’ I was fortunate enough to experience this material on the Fall 2015 tour and really enjoyed the new songs. Because of this, I may not be the only fan that enjoys the studio tracks, yet prefers the live versions. Beyond the music, the artwork is spectacular. Circles are cut out of the CD case so that in a very artistic way, parts of the enclosed psychedelic booklet and disc can be seen from the outside. The removed booklet reveals various cut pages of fancifully colored geometric shapes. Given the repetition of circles, it can be thought of as showcasing multiple paper wheels. While being a long time fan of  John Zorn  (who is famous for such elaborate gatefolds), this is one of the most sophisticated single disc CD cases this listener has seen. “Paper Wheels” has a mix of hits and misses and for this reason it doesn't stand up to “ Shine ” or “ Original Boardwalk Style ,” which best captures the TAB band live. In any case, the strongest “Paper Wheels” songs are welcome additions to TAB’s live repertoire. *** ½ stars

Have been listening to paper wheels for a while now, and since i've started to get into vinyl I figured i'd eventuall pick it up on vinyl as well. I noticed the non deluxe version was available for preorder, and did so.The album arrived today in nice easy to open packaging. The vinyl is very quiet, but my copy came out of the box with a lot of static electricity attracting a lot of dust to the records making things a bit noisier as i handled them. (Luckily i got a zerostat on ebay for $30 so that should be here in the next week or so to fix that, as well as a rcm)The pressing is very high quality, seems to be a 180 gram pressing like the deluxe edition, this time on black vinyl. And yes it is still the same master so 45 rpm all the way. The sound quality is superb.I didn't care to much for all of the extra fancies of the deluxe. I would rather have a no frills copy of the record with the same great audio quality for half the price.

As a long-time Trey Anastasio fan by way of being a long-time Phish fan, I dare say, in my own humble opinion, that this is Trey Anastasio's best, most solid effort from start to finish. Surrounded by a cast of great musicians, as always, Trey's writing shines, song after song, as bright as it ever has, throughout this release! Simply put, from start to finish, this album is just great!

My friend is enjoying this cd, thinks it's one of his best.

I'm a fan of whatever Trey puts out. Always good to hear some new tunes by the Phish frontman but he's a very accomplished solo artist. His self-titled album is one of my favs and Bar 17 is really good too. This is happy music!

For my money this is the strongest STUDIO release by Trey. Excellent songwriting. Good melodies. Varieties of styles. Great playing. Sounds great. If you are a fan of Trey, check this out. My personal favorites: Paper Wheels, Sometime After Sunset, Bounce, Liquid Time, Speak To Me, Lever Boy.

Fantastic album by Trey, my favorite so far of his solo work. The songs keep going through my head long after listening.

Trey celebrating his sobriety in a collection of catchy songs

I may find this improves with listening but my initial impression is that it's not nearly as good as "Traveler" or "Trey Anastasio" Pleasant enough songs but nothing out of the ordinary, I may change this review after a couple of weeks listening! Yes as I suspected this really grows on you, some great guitar jams and jazzy numbers! Particularly like the relaxed jazzy “ Flying Machines” and “ Invisible Knife “ very cool guitar breaks. Well worth buying.

THANKS