Bankrupt!
The French foursome's fifth album scans as a post-success commentary, dropping you into a fast-changing world of K-pop synth melodies, Californian glamor and Scandinavian leather where they appear distinctly uncomfortable. The only reliable constant is the band's winning, shiny, jacked-up formula.
The tough thing about peaking is that what comes next will be a sideways move at best. Phoenix’s 2009 album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, still sounds fresh and incredible, the perfect melding of indie rock with arid French pop. (That album title is still pretty unforgiveable, but the songs—phenomenal.) Wolfgang set the…
Unless you are Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz or Christian Mazzalai, it is unlikely that you ever thought…
Somewhat sneakily, as they honed their blend of new wave, synth pop, soft rock, and all things '80s for the better part of a decade, Phoenix became one of the most influential acts of the 2000s and 2010s. When they married that distinctive style to some of their strongest songs on 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, that album's mainstream success felt like a well-earned reward for their years of defining a sound that had permeated a lot of pop culture. Its follow-up, Bankrupt!, isn't nearly as devoid of new ideas as its title suggests, but it doesn't feel like quite the leap forward Wolfgang was compared to what came before it. Not that it necessarily needs to be; Phoenix sound more comfortable and confident than ever on songs like the lead single, "Entertainment," which defines almost everything that they do on the rest of the album with its galloping beats, earnest vocals, and Asian-tinged keyboard melodies. "Trying to Be Cool," "Don't," and "Oblique City" also carry over the bouncy irresistibility of the band's breakthrough, and even if they don't have the star-making power that "1901" and "Lisztomania" did, they reveal Phoenix's deep love and even deeper knowledge of '80s pop magic in their deft major-to-minor key changes and strategically placed buildups and breakdowns.
Phoenix's first LP in four years promises more experimentation than on their breakthrough, 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and sure, there's a few changes to their palette which are apparent right from the get-go with Entertainment, the album's hooky opening statement. There's a heavier dependence on retro synthesizers and tinny, artificial-sounding drums, making this their most explicitly synth-pop outing to date.
Bankrupt!, the follow up to 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, will sound familiar to the band's fans from the off, but also represents the first significant aesthetic shift in their oeuvre.
ClashMusic: Read a review of the album 'Bankrupt!' by French band Phoenix featuring the single 'Entertainment'.
<p>The French synth-rockers' fifth set is a shamelessly catchy take on 80s pop, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>
Phoenix's cashmere-lined soft rock sounds as fun as ever on their first new album since their big breakthrough, writes <strong>Caroline Sullivan</strong>