COVER STORY
GLENS FALLS -- Members of the Glens Falls-based post-punk band Phillips Head said professionalism is the key to keeping a band together for years.
"We know enough professionally to keep the personal out of it," said bassist Steve Graves. "I think we've learned enough to respect each other. The band is it's own thing."
The payoff of having the same members for more than four years is that Phillips ead is finally reaching a point where the band has refined a sound of it's own - a tight collaboration of drums, guitar, and bass.
For Phillips Head, the sound first appeared when the band first stepped into the recording studio in the Spring of 2000 to start a fresh CD, titled "II", which debuts Saturday.
As a celebration of the event, Phillips Head is performing live starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Hall in the Glens Falls Civic Center. Tickets for the show are $5, or $7 if purchased the day of the show, and ticketholders will get a free copy of the band's newest CD.
The CD is a culmination of the hard work of playing together nearly every weekend since the current three members got together in Spring of 1997.
Band members hosted a similar party in September 1997. That time, Graves had joined the band just two months before Phillips Head went into the studio.
The first recording featured the same three members - guitarist Jason Irwin, Graves on Bass and the singularly named Benny on Drums.
Phillips Head had a fourth member, and began with a different cast that had Irwin at the helm, in 1994. Now that they've played as a trio for about four and a half years, they all say the new CD is far better than the first one.
"When we went into the studio (1999 and 2000) we really came together," Benny said.
The band has a fast-paced, original sound with some musical nods given to post-punk influences like The Ramones, The Replacements, and Green Day.
Regular fans who started out watching Phillips Head at Freddy's on Elm Street may appreciate the full cash bar and snacks available at Saturday's show. But instead of a regualr bar scene - where admission is limited to people 21 or older - the show Saturday is geared toward all ages.
"We have a lot of younger fans," said vocalist and guitarist Jason Irwin.
The band performed it's first acoustic set in Lake George last weekend, and is scheduled to do another unplugged set in the mid-afternoon on Saturday Sept. 15, in Sounds Unlimited at 175 Glen St.
Irwin said the band will be doing more all-ages shows in the future, as Phillips Head members try to convince parents that the music is appropriate for their children.
"A lot of parents don't realize we don't have one profane word in any of the lyrics," he said. "There are some adult-oriented themes in our show, but there are adult themes in Saturday morning cartoons."
One song is the narrative of a man lusting after phone sex in "1-900 Girl;" and an adult man tells about his teen-age girlfriend in "Old Enough For Me."
Still, Irwin said the lyrics are sung so quickly that the message may breeze over the heads of younger listeners. Phillips Head songs are often nonfiction tales from Irwin's life, or about experiences with the band.
A sneak peek at the new CD is available on the Web on Friday. Fans will be able to download two songs from www.mp3.com/phillipshead.
Tickets are available by calling the Civic Center Box Office at 798-0202, or Ticketmaster at 476-1000.
Reprinted from The Scene, The Post Star, Thursday, September 6, 2001