Music Review: Phoenix, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”

Posted by staticblog

on June 16, 2009M at 2:05 pm

wolfgang-amadeus-phoenix

Rating: 84
Beginning with 2000′s “United,” Phoenix’s stylistic alchemy involved merging the crisp precision of electronica with the energy and structure of power-pop, but that aesthetic reaches maturity on the Parisian band’s fourth collection, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” Beginning with the passionate indecision of “Lisztomania,” a reference to Ken Russell’s bizarre 1975 cult film, singer Thomas Mars, guitarists Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, and bassist Deck D’Arcy create their richest dance-rock romance.

Mars conducts a fast-paced argument with himself on “Lisztomania” as the band shuffles like an android version of The Strokes, leading into the bright and chiming rave-up “1901” and the luxurious disco of “Fences.” At this stage in “Wolfgang,” the album begins to take on the high-gloss cool of the band’s associates in Air as the band downshifts into the two-part “Love Like a Sunset.”

Phoenix closes “Wolfgang” strongly with the warm-toned “Girlfriend” and the shifting beats of “Armistice” — two songs that offer textbook examples of what makes the band’s rhythmic swirl so engaging. Mars can be a cryptic lyricist, but as he argues with himself over the perils of love, he offers a charming counterpoint to Phoenix’ bright instrumentation and forward momentum. “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” is the disc that could catapult the band from cult-obsession to the mass adulation they describe in “Lisztomania.”

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