BANKRUPT!
PHOENIX
(Liberation/Universal)
Sparkling like cheap spumanti served in fine lead crystal, this French four-piece follow up their Grammy-acclaimed festival pop hit-machine Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix with a clever collage of remember-when beats, drifting synth trance and crowd-pleasing dance-athons.
Where the four-piece show their cleverness is by dressing a well-worn style of music in the finest thift-store threads … and then only showing them by the light of swirling glitterballs and golden-hued uplights.
Once upon a time Thomas Mars’ lyrics were up front and centre, now he’s warbling in the background about “jangle-jungle jingle junkies” and “presbyterian mint julip testosterone” while apparently throwaway tracks, which are in reality complex beasts, take your average tent-dancing Joe and throw his shapes askew.
Strangely this simple act of subverting the simple pop format gives the album a punkish flavour… and make sure that Phoenix will remain the hipster’s popsters of choice.
Ad Feedback
–
