RATING: 4 stars out of 5
This French group has been making elevator Muzak to dance to for ten years now, and on their third album they’ve decided to shake everything up, yielding their liveliest and most enjoyable album yet. Recorded in a series of first takes, with the emphasis less on programmed beats and synth flourishes and more on guitar and live drums, Phoenix has discovered a new band hiding under those ashes, one that sounds an awful lot like the Strokes. “Napoleon Says” and “Consolation Prizes” are slinky come-ons made irresistible by Thomas Mars’ croon, “Long Distance Call” is destined to be another club smash, and “Sometimes In the Fall” is a true hands-in-the-air anthem. Never before has loosening up made a band sound so tight; your DJ and your dentist agree.
-sean o’neal
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