Album Review: Fed by Plush

Released only in Japan in 2002, Plush's second album lives up to the acclaim it has garnered ever since. Fulfilling the promise of their pared-down debut, More You Becomes You, Fed is a symphony of Burt Bacharach-inspired pop, blaxploitation-influenced soul and timeless balladeering, bound together by Liam Hayes' uncompromising vision. "My creation has drowned me," he sings in Whose Blues, yet he orchestrates the shifting moods and fast-flowing stream of ideas with skill.

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Considering how few albums (two) Plush had put out prior to this 2004 release, it could be viewed as something of an indulgence to make his third full-length record an alternate version of his prior CD, 2002's Fed. Then again, considering how long fans have had to wait for the notoriously unprolific Plush to issue albums -- it took eight years after Plush's 1994 debut single to even produce those two -- it could be viewed as a blessing that at least something else has been made available. Underfed contains, according to the brief liner notes, the "rough tracks" for Fed, which was subjected to a great deal of additional recording and overdubs on the same songs.

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Plush' s new album Fed is the result, it seems, of years -- decades even -- of pent up pop frustration. Until now, Plush (essentially Chicagoan Liam Hayes and assorted friends) has only been able to let off steam in bursts and spurts, and even the piano/vox crooning of 1998's much-heralded The More You Becomes You felt more like the skeleton of a beast than the monster itself. With Fed the volcano has finally erupted and in doing so has washed away all roads in its path.

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