The String Cheese Incident: Outside Inside : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The String Cheese Incident is probably the leading contender to absorb the tour tribe disenfranchised by the abdication of Phish. But while the Colorado band's West Coast groove leans to the jazz-bluegrass roots of the Grateful Dead, the group's first studio disc in three years has a shiny, upbeat feel that's more akin to Little Feat. The funky, infectious opener "Outside and Inside" proves that is not necessarily a bad thing, although earthy production by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin and crisp musical parts can't lift a few of the band's more generic tunes. "Black and White" still smokes with Michael Kang's muted leads on electric mandolin and a double-time funk bridge with horns. The quintet draws texture from versatile keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth and percussion ace Michael Travis, who plays both kit and hand drums. Kang, however, is really the band's wild card, doubling on violin, and spicing his Caribbean-tinged "Rollover" with solo flights. String Cheese neatly juggles its writing, vocals and styles as it joins the ranks of jam-bands who can also roll inside the studio. (PAUL ROBICHEAU - May 14, 2001)