Phoenix and Visqueen

powerpopaholic Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”

This is straight up alternative pop, but it was one of the better albums in it’s genre this year so I wanted to give it a quick review. French quartet Phoenix are like Air meets The Strokes with a touch of Field Music, so you get a good mix of alt. pop styles here, from New Wave, to Moody Ambiance, to brilliant Power Pop. Frontman Thomas Mars croons on the opener “Lisztomania” along a bouncy classical pop riff. The heavy synth lead on “1901” is a new wave love song that builds up to a rich soaring chorus of “Falling/Falling/Falling”. We get some subtle disco drone (“Fences”) and then a two part instrumental (“Love Like A Sunset”) but it is a mild distraction from the excellent pop that follows with “Lasso” full of catchy riffs and another rushing chorus. The album is on many top ten lists for pop this year, deservedly so.


Visqueen “Message To Garcia”

Lead by Rachel Floatard opens with the snappy “Hand Me Down” that is a full power pop anthem as good as any out there. Fans of Cheap Trick and The Replacements will appreciate the killer hooks here. It’s another Brooklyn band here with honest love of rock-and-roll and a real passion that comes through each note. Floatard carries much of these songs along, her vocals a sweet mix of both Heart and Joan Jett. “Fight For Love” is a perfect example of her delivery when the chorus “When you gonna fight for love?” hits she dares the listener to respond, and it leads into a wicked guitar solo. When the tone shifts for “So Long” a soaring tribute to Floatard’s father, who died of cancer last year – the dedication is clear. The band also benefits from a list of veteran collaborators, including vocal contributions from Neko Case and steel guitar from Jon Rauhouse. This is another one on many top ten lists, and is also one hell of a rocking pop album.

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