popwreckoning updates

Posted: 31 May 2009 01:17 PM PDT

The common consensus about Phoenix is that they should be a lot bigger than they are. On the French band's fourth album they've continued to evolve and define themselves, building upon the sound of their last album, the Strokes-indebted It's Never Been Like That, while continuing to explore the dance tendencies found on their earlier albums. And while the songwriting on It's Never Been Like That had already reached an astounding plateau of pop-perfection which should've launched them to international stardom, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix matches it and boasts two of the band's most single-ready in "Lisztomania" and "1901," which, as we all know at this point, are the album's singles.

They key to Phoenix is their uncanny knack for modern pop composition. Lyrically and musically the band combine fractured elements to form something that unfailingly feels like a wonderfully refined whole. "A lisztomania/Think less but let it grow/like a riot like a riot oh/not easily offended," sings Thomas Mars in "Lisztomania," throwing together disconnected phrases while still conveying an essential idea. As stated before, the band mirrors this in the composition of the songs. This method of songwriting is nothing revolution - plenty of songwriters use it - but Phoenix in particular are masters of the craft, particularly adept at infusing all of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix's songs with moments of climactic pop euphoria. Somehow they've managed this for two albums straight and still managed to keep it fresh enough from song to song that it never becomes stale.

And yet despite all the pop euphoria, like much of the most gorgeous pop music from The Beach Boys to The Arcade Fire, there's an undercurrent of sadness and lovelorn tragedy that runs through Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In "Rome," Mars sings "Who's the boy I like the most/Is it is teasing you he's underage/Could he be waving from a tropical sunset/Static silhouette somehow/Single in his bed someday/Quiet til he fall fall falls." In "Girlfriend" he sings, "This is the glory, is this how you want it?/Not a miracle in years/Sad is for the lonely/Wishin’ that, that, that," and when he sings, "Do you know me well?", the subsequent title word is followed with a question mark. The potential for love and satisfaction is there, but always just one step away. "Everlasting didn't last that long," Mars sing in "Countdown (Sick For The Big Sun)," but fuck, it could've lasted, couldn't it?

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is an album that asks the questions and ponders the possibly often-disappointing answers of life, but like the Coliseum in the distance of Mars' protagonist in "Rome" keeps focusing on, great art transcends ourselves and the troubles we face in life. And Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may very well qualify.

Tracklisting:
01. Lisztomania
02. 1901
03. Fences
04. Love Like a Sunset Part I
05. Love Like a Sunset Part II
06. Lasso
07. Rome
08. Countdown
09. Girlfriend
10. Armistice

Phoenix: website | myspace