Moe's latest effort more than Okayalright

With jam-bands, the finished products usually fall short of expectations of unmerciful critics and zealous hordes of fans. The Buffalo, N.Y., quintet moe. has finally overcome a string of poor studio records to produce the first great jam record of the new millennium. moe. used live recordings to lay the basic tracks for Wormwood, a technique used previously by the Grateful Dead. The album is curiously raw and musically diverse. The unorthodox approach to a studio record allows moe. to do what it does best: use its instruments and voices to assemble a polyrhythmic jam machine that flows without the aid of studio voodoo. After a shaky opening, the album picks up with highlights like "Bullet," an abstract but infectious groove, the subtle yet haunting "Kyle's Song," and the joyous calypso jam "Kids." There are also six instrumental tracks that are woven in with the others, truly bringing the unimpeded Wormwood together as a whole. Similar to Floyd's canonical Dark Side of the Moon, the album's overall concert ambience benefits greatly from those instrumentals. Though moe.'s guitarist/vocalist Chuck Garvey sings, "We are all waiting for the main event," it has already arrived.