The Pharcyde: Chapter One EP

With its strikingly original, wildly funny debut album, 1992's Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, The Pharcyde established itself as one of the West Coast's finest hip-hop acts. A stellar collection with energy, good humor, and freewheeling irreverence, Bizarre Ride is one of the best and most promising debut albums (regardless of genre) of the past 20 years. Labcabincalifornia (1995) was a significant departure that found the band exploring darker, more adult territory without sacrificing the loopy humor that had become its trademark. Then came nothing: Hampered by internal dissent (founding member Fatlip was kicked out of the group) and problems with its record label, the group essentially ceased to exist as a recording outfit. The amateurishly packaged (the cover looks like a blurry outtake from Black Tail magazine), independently released EP Chapter One is The Pharcyde's first release in ages, and, as the title of "Pain" would indicate, five years of inactivity haven't brightened the band's outlook a bit. Dark and echo-laden, the disc's first four tracks sound like discarded, half-finished demos from Labcabincalifornia. Only the final track, "Feeling Freaky"—a laid-back, guitar-driven ode to meaningless casual sex—feels like the Pharcyde of old. While some of Chapter One's shakiness can be attributed to its low budget, it's discouraging to hear one of the liveliest outfits in hip-hop sound so dispirited. It remains to be seen what The Pharcyde will do with a proper studio budget, and it's good to hear it back in action, but Chapter One falls short of the high standards set by its two brilliant predecessors.