It's Never Been Like that

by 
AlbumMay 12 / 200611 songs, 38m 3s
Indie Pop Indie Rock
Popular
8.0 / 10

Third album from the meticulous French band finds its members loosening their ties, unbuttoning their cuffs, and coming across as the soft-rock Strokes.

A

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…

7.0 / 10

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.

<p>; The reborn Parisian pop-rockers party like it's 1978-ish</p>

Phoenix is one of those bands that are easily devoured, quietly admired, and chronically overlooked.

5 / 10

Phoenix is a band still looking for its way.

Album Reviews: Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That

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