Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: The Verge

(Photo courtesy of Umphrey's McGee)

The improv sextet Umphrey's McGee plays at the Chicago Auditorium Theatre on Dec. 30, 2008, as part of their annual three-night New Year's Eve run. Despite releasing their new album Mantis in the middle of January, UM opted to play only one song off the album, "Made to Measure," during the run. (Chris Essig/The Daily Eastern News)

Even before "Mantis" was released on Inauguration Day 2009, Umphrey's McGee's latest album was bound to be unlike anything they've released before. Contrary to their previous albums, all of the songs on "Mantis" were recorded first in the studio and then performed live. Add in a little patience and artistic discretion, and the result is a truly unique UM album.

Taking over two years to finish, "Mantis" was also the first album the band has put together that wasn't on a time schedule or under the pressure of a contract, singer and guitarist Brendan Bayliss said in a recent JamBase article. It's no surprise then that the 10-track "Mantis" is well constructed and precise.

The album opens with the power pop single "Made to Measure," an ode to The Beatles.

Despite a simple melody, the track includes crafty piano work and an exotic percussion arrangement.

Careful compositions pervade throughout the album, as the tracks move sluggishly in and out of progressive rock, funk, techno and hair metal influences.

The title track is perhaps the best indication of the serious tone the band has developed since the release of "Safety in Numbers" in 2006. Long lost is the UM of old, making oddball tracks like "Muffburger Sandwich" and "Nachos for Two." Instead, the album is largely a moody affair, with introspective, philosophical lyrics.

Besides complex instrumentals, "Mantis" is also layered with verses courtesy of Bayliss, who is hit or miss throughout the album. At best, Bayliss is cryptic ("Mantis") and at worst poetically incompetent (when he rhymes "polygraph" and "paragraph" on "Cemetery Walk").

But because UM is in the loosest terms a "jam band," the focus is by no means on the vocals, despite Bayliss's pleas. Instead, the limelight is clearly on guitarist Jake Cinninger.

When Cinninger takes up a riff, people notice. His best performance, and thus the album's highlight, is on "Turn & Run." Cinninger has found a flawless balance between build-up and shredding on the track. Near the end, his guitar fades out, leaving hopes that the solo will be extended once it's performed live.

Despite some mediocre performances near the end (the Genesis-inspired "Red Tape," for instance), the album ends on a high note with "1348." In many regards this track is classic UM: funky bass lines, smooth soloing, and quick changes of pace.

But instead of fully embracing their metal influences they straddle the thin line between power pop and progressive rock. The same can be said for most of the album.

One question remains, however: once the band starts performing these songs live, is "Mantis" going to remain in the CD player or will it be just a good reference point for its live counterparts?

My guess is once recordings come in, "Mantis" will be a thing of the past. But you have to start somewhere.

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