From garage band kids to kings of Coachella, the members of Phoenix have come a long way since the turn of the millennium. This French quartet first raced to the top of the charts with ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,’ and now, nearly four years later, they’re diving back into the mainstream scene.
In typical Phoenix fashion, the group has tested its audience’s patience in the years since ‘Wolfgang,’ but ‘Bankrupt!’ is well worth the wait. Phoenix’s fifth full-length album is much more than just a “victory lap,” as Thomas Mars sings in the title track. Not content simply to ride the coattails of its 2009 success, the band spares no effort this time around.
‘Bankrupt!’ didn’t reach stores until Tuesday, but thanks to iTunes it got the chance to make a big impression much earlier. For a limited time, the site offered an exclusive opportunity to listen to the entirety of Phoenix’s new album for free. The result of this new creative collaboration? An influx of enthusiastic reviews and possibly the best marketing method the band could have asked for.
“Entertainment”, the lead single off ‘Bankrupt!,’ shows that Phoenix is certainly moving forward but hasn’t forgotten what carried them up in the first place. Turning tracks that are reminiscent of hits like “1901,” “Lasso” and “Lisztomania,” the band sticks close to what it knows. Streamlined and clean like ‘Wolfgang,’ but with an extra touch of synth to blow up the background, this sneak-peek track is the perfect introduction to all the rest that follow.
Other tracks hearken back to group’s last record as well. “Bankrupt!,” the album’s title track, bears a strong resemblance to “Love Like a Sunset,” as both tunes are experiments in electronic ebb and flow. “Trying to Be Cool,” the song that Phoenix introduced during its performance on Saturday Night Live, matches calmer styles found on parts of ‘Wolfgang’ but also on the group’s older albums, reaching back to 2006’s ‘It’s Never Been Like That’ and even 2004’s ‘Alphabetical.’
Phoenix does take some opportunities to branch out, however, like in the track “The Real Thing,” which layers synthetic bass behind Mars’ vocals to give this song a deeper sound with subtle background pitches that contrast the guitar riffs on the foreground. The quartet uses the album to convey a message, with songs like “S.O.S. in Bel Air,” “Bourgeois” and “Oblique City,” which express a discontent with life in the fast lane and a sense of dissatisfaction with the state of society.
With these undercurrents, Phoenix steps beyond the comfort zone of ‘Wolfgang’ and gives itself a new image, founded in a fresh sense of complexity, both musically and lyrically.
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