Parle vous Anglais?
Phoenix
It’s Never Been Like That
(Astralwerks)
Commercially borne of the surge of French pop in Air’s wake, Phoenix’s latest is easily their best.
This, Phoenix’s third album, is almost a repudiation of the sounds that initially gained them interest and ostensibly a recording contract. Dropping the fluffy, Europop melodies that demanded French-born, cheesy American pop devotion, It’s Never Been Like That is a literal title for blatantly heretical Anglophilia. Brimming with life in exuberant power pop numbers like “Consolation Prizes,” “Rally,” and “Courtesy Laughs,” Phoenix could go toe-to-toe with Shout Out Louds in the wide-eyed, child-like championships. Hints of former guitar/synth concoctions return in “Long Distance Call,” yet in this context it’s a boon, not a bane.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here for a Real Audio sample of “Long Distance Call.”
