Last Wednesday night, when rumors surfaced that Phish would cover an “obscure album from 1981,” some jumped to conclusions that they would play Mark of the Mole by The Residents while others placed their bets on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne and Rush‘s Moving Pictures. Some classic thrill seekers continued the tradition of wishful thinking by suggesting Led Zepplin’s Physical Graffiti, or even the Allman Brothers Band’s, Eat a Peach. When the playbill was given to the first attendees, everyone at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and on social media was buzzing about the ultra-obscure Scandanavian prog-rock hidden gem, í Rokk by Kasvot Växt.
Upon further speculation and criticism, some members of the vast Phish community discovered that the entire album was a hoax. The sketchiness of the whole “Swedish Phish” concept began once researchers and phistorians couldn’t find much information about the album. Anywhere. Conclusions were made that Phish had orchestrated one of the biggest pranks in the band’s 35-year-career by fabricating the false links and album cover themselves, and they did just that. Phish knocked it out of the park as they pulled off this stunt, executing the 10 new songs with precision and confidence.
Earlier this week, Phish revealed that all 10 í rokk tracks are credited to the four members of the band — Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman. The day after Phish’s Halloween show, frequent Phish songwriting collaborator, Tom Marshall, explained on his Couch Tour podcast that he had nothing to do with Phish’s Halloween stunt, and took zero songwriting credit for the new material.
After releasing a series of pro-shot videos over the past week, including “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.”, “The Final Hurrah”, and “Turtle In The Clouds”, Phish has added the entirety of their Kasvot Växt í Rokk album to Spotify, which you can listen to below:
Kasvot Växt – í rokk