Phoenix 

It?s Never Been Like That (Astralwerks)

If recent rumors are true, Thomas Mars from Phoenix is having a (presumably) incredibly attractive baby with Sofia Coppola. And while that does seem to make a little bit of sense, it’s still kind of unfair. Mars has pretty much everything going for him — namely, an awesome French pop band that people all over the world love, and a fantastic new album from said awesome band. So I guess he can knock up whatever hip celebrity he likes. This new record is less riddled with synthesizers  than Phoenix’s past two albums and much heavier on all-out, guitar-based rockers, but it’s still got that obscenely clean production and deft but subtle use of jazz chords — the traits that usually get the band compared to their 70s progenitors like ELO. But they share more than just musicianship with those bands; they’ve got the songwriting chops to back it up. Every song is as crisply structured as it is polished in the studio. When you pair that with Mars’ good looks and excellent taste in women, it starts to seem like there’s pretty much nothing this band can’t do.          

Comments (0)

Add a comment

Author Archives

  • Pop Scene!

    Conklin and Dougherty take on Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Pitbull, Boys Like Girls, and someone named Jay Sean, whom you will definitely never hear from again.
    • Sep 2, 2009
  • Pop Scene: Date Rape! Fake Death Cab!

    In which Pop Scene gets just a little bit heavy. But then relaxes and has fun.
    • Nov 11, 2009
  • More»

Latest in Album Reviews

  • Real Estate

    Real Estate's self-titled debut full-length hits all the right nostlagiac notes.
    • Nov 11, 2009
  • Annie

    Swedish Norwegian pop darling Annie refuses to stop, releases album called Don't Stop.
    • Nov 11, 2009
  • Fuck Buttons

    The UK duo releases an album of seven wordless, pulsing electronic music. And they're still called Fuck Buttons.
    • Oct 28, 2009
  • More»

© 2009