It's Never Been Like that
Third album from the meticulous French band finds its members loosening their ties, unbuttoning their cuffs, and coming across as the soft-rock Strokes.
For almost a decade, French guitar-pop band Phoenix has been haphazardly balancing theory and pleasure, coming on one moment like rhythm-for-rhythm's-sake conceptualizer Spoon, and the next like disco-fied '70 soft-rocker Starbuck. Phoenix's first two studio albums—2000's United and 2004's Alphabetical—were dotted…
After avoiding the sophomore slump with relative ease, Phoenix return with their third release stripped of the post-disco house sound that helped to define them, focusing more on the songwriting side of things than any sort of dancefloor-focused groove.
Phoenix is one of those bands that are easily devoured, quietly admired, and chronically overlooked.