Winner of the 11th season of American Idol -- aka, the last season to feature
Steven Tyler and
Jennifer Lopez as judges --
Phillip Phillips doesn't strictly seem like a pop star, probably because he doesn't sing pop music.
Phillips is in thrall to his idol
Dave Matthews, patterning every little detail of his style after the jam band icon, borrowing the stuttering acoustic strums and elastic vocal phrasing, letting his folk-rock wander into jazz and smooth soul. So many elements of
Phillips' 2012 post-Idol debut
The World from the Side of the Moon are taken from early
Dave Matthews Band albums it could easily be mistaken for a forgotten record from 1997 or, worse, taken as a parody of
DMB's loose-limbed roots pop.
Phillips favors both the loverman croon of
Matthews ("Wanted Is Love," "A Fool's Dance") and
DMB's raucous party tunes ("Get Up Get Down," written in the style of "Ants Marching"), and, it has to be said, he nails his impression, getting each minor inflection precisely right. Consequently,
The World from the Side of the Moon kinda sorta delivers upon
Phillips' promise: it is a streamlined, smoothed-out
Dave Matthews Band album, stripped of any of
DMB's idiosyncratic quirks, instrumental virtuosity, and love of the world "belly." If you don't listen closely, it goes down easy, but listening with just a slightly critical ear reveals those similarities as near farcical. Tellingly, the moments that veer away from
DMB are those not written by
Phillips -- the post-Idol coronation song "Home" and "Gone Gone Gone," both sounding a bit fresher and folkier -- which is an indication that producers
Drew Pearson and
Gregg Wattenberg knew what it would take to sell this
Matthews mash note to a wider audience. [A Deluxe Edition of the album added three bonus cuts.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine