Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Phoenix

The third album from Phoenix, Paris’s answer to Sloan follows the tried and tested route of its predecessors and so beds down straightaway in your brain from the opening bars of ‘Lisztomania’. Before the wordplay gets too much though, we leave behind the Hungarian pianist/composer for the indie disco of ’1901′, a year that old Franz never got to see, having shuffled off in 1886.

‘Fences’ regresses the tempo somewhat and is a funky, more laidback groover. ‘Love Like A Sunset’ is the album’s epic and for the most part an instrumental, similar in essence to something you might expect to come across on one of the later period, rockier Who albums. Following this we return to familiar Phoenix territory with ‘Lasso’ and the marginally psychedelic ‘Rome’.

‘Countdown (Sick For The Big Sun)’ is the standout rock track of the album – when it’s loud it’s LOUD but it has its considered and thoughtful moments too. A candidate for a single release I wouldn’t doubt. Next to last we have ‘Girlfriend’ and finishing things off comes ‘Armistice’ – another two fine examples of the Phoenix sound on an album that should hopefully see them further entrenching themselves in the collections of non-French music fans, maybe then even tempting people to look beyond them at what else the country has to offer.

It’s not all about the UK and North America, you know.

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