It’s taken several albums for Phoenix to really enter the mainstream, which is strange as they seem to be a band built for public consciousness, but their fourth LP Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has been heralded as the band’s call to fame. The music is as infectious as always but now it has a more cultivated presence; as Thomas Mars croons in “Lisztomania”- it’s time to show it off. Bold album name, phenomenal cover art, winning SNL performance… Phoenix seems to be able to do no wrong at the moment. Especially with single “1901.”
It’s easy to get hooked on the twinkly-sounding opener, quickly replaced by the harder driven synth beat to blend with Mars’s cool upbeat vocals. Phoenix’s pop songs are so effortlessly smooth and catchy that they obviously saw no need to ruin that with a fussy, over-the-top video. Albeit there are some masterfully intricate touches here, like watching the lights dissolve into a chaos of dots when the line “watch your moving in elliptical pattern” comes up. But overall, the video’s lack of complexity is reflective of the band’s vibe which is to take a simple concept (being on stage with some lights) and turn it into something brilliant and special.
Well done.
