“the finest tunes you’ll hear all year - this could be the Phoenix’s OK Computer and Kid A rolled into one.”
Q - 4 Stars ****

“Texturally rich and brilliantly detailed… the fashionista-faves fourth might just see them go overground”
NME - 8/10

“Every song feels like it could soundtrack some epic montage of young love gambolling through the sunset capitals of Europe.”
Uncut - 4 Stars ****

“Grandiose, dramatic, intriguing… ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ is bloody wonderful.”
WORD

“Some of 2009’s most glorious pop moments so far… Phoenix have struck musical gold with this album”
The Fly - 4 Stars ****

“A tour de force.. pulsing beats, moody atmospherics and dazzling guitars… Magnifique!”
The Sun - 4.5 / 5 *****

“Phoenix are the best… Lisztomania and 1901 are as good as anything they’ve ever done.”
The London Paper - 4 Stars ****

“Phoenix have delivered a gem: complex, intricate music-making with a sunny disposition.”
Esquire

“Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix makes a good case for being album of the year… It’s clever, interesting and memorable - everything you want
from a pop record.”
Metro - 4 Stars ****

“Supremely melodic and uplifting… devastatingly brilliant.”
Gay Times - 4 Stars ****

“An indie masterclass. Spiky, cool and armed with hummable choruses. An electro-charged version of how The Strokes should’ve evolved.”
Zoo Magazine - 5 Stars ****

“A well rounded, beautifully exciting record… a soundtrack to the summer, and another winner from the Phoenix.”
Future Music - 8/10

“A joyful affair, instantly leaping out of the speakers with a cheery grin on its face… eminently danceable.”
Loud and Quiet - 8/10

Now when you read a bunch of reviews like this, even the most cynical reviewers (like moi…) would have to be a little inquisitive about the band and its record. So I did my homework and found this:

Phoenix started during their childhood by Thomas Mars, Deck D’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz in the affluent suburb of Versailles, France, in the same culture that produced late-’90s bands such as Air and Daft Punk.

Phoenix started as the backing band for a remix of Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars” single. Soon after, Phoenix released their 2000 debut album United. The name Phoenix was officially chosen in 1996 when Laurent Brancowitz permanently joined the band after the end of the short-lived band Darlin’ he formed with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who eventually became Daft Punk.

Phoenix’s music has been featured in such films as Shallow Hal and Lost In Translation, with the band themselves appearing in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, a film, like Lost In Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola, Thomas Mars’ partner.

SO WHAT WENT RIGHT AND WHAT WENT WRONG…

Okay, the opportunity presents itself to go see the band perform in Manchester, an hour down the motorway and 2 car crashes later, I arrive to be met by a mile-long queue to see Fightstar! I kid you not; 2,500 raving young fans (mostly micro mini-skirted female teens) and it’s a mid-term lock-out. But I digress. The Phoenix show is also sold-out and as I make my way down to the ‘pit’ to take some photos, I find that someone has stolen it! Now who the hell would want to steal 20 odd metres of metal barrier? Lord knows, so I then politely ask a couple of people to move over at the stage front (this is a generous audience) and I’m in, rarin’ to go.

In support is an unknown Yankee three-piece outfit called Chairlift, although there’s actually four of them, and I wonder if they realise that they have been infiltrated… Be that as it may, I gotta say they were interesting. Caroline Polachek (half Polish, half Czech?) on vocals looks rock ‘n’ roll with her unmade-up, natural look and bra-strap revealing smock. Patrick Wimberly was on drums but grabbing the bass guitar when nobody was looking, and Aaron Pfenning the highlight-haired guitarist who occasionally wanders to the edge of the stage, in front of Caroline - perhaps to let everybody see that he’s actually a lot prettier…

Now I would like to say that I heard them with absolute clarity, but I would be telling porkies (big ones). You see the sound was atrocious and I couldn’t hear a sodding thing, and so had to rely on the response of the gathered throng who were more than generous with their applause. So I clapped too and even waved my arms in the air and nodded my head in approval after one song, in-tune with the decibel level of the audience. That said, the band looked as though they were passionate and skilled, and deserving of my appreciation. When I got home, I Googled them, listened to a couple of the songs played, and didn’t feel so silly - not bad at all, sort of indie-pop-dancey, synthy music; 80’s updated.

Set List: Evident Utencil, Territory, Flying Saucer, Earwig, Bruises, Planet Health.