The first just needs one more drummer to add to the Bow Wow Wow feel, while the second is pure Postal Service. There are two separate endings to “Lisztomania,” making it the Return of the King of pop songs. What are you doing to do about it, huh? Nothing. Guitars and synths dance and spar throughout “Lisztomania,” as they do on the rest of Wolfgang, and the result is a contagious mix not heard since the days of Journey’s Escape or “Separate Ways.” Yeah, I said it.

WAP is our choice for your summer barbecue soundtrack, and you will be dancing with kebab juice dripping down your chin. And, be sure, ain’t no party like a Phoenix party. The opening repetitive bounce of the opener is immediately ebullient, preparing one for the party within. One-two punches as potent as “Lisztomania” and “1901” will be hard to come by this year. The band has always rooted itself in ’80s flavored soul, dance and funk, and this new album doesn’t stray too far from that fertile field, but when it does, it triumphs. Hype has spread like swine flu about this album for at least the past three months, since the release of the first digital download, “1901.” Add that to a widely viewed appearance on Saturday Night Live, and you have the makings of a zeitgeist. WAP is, hands down, Phoenix’s best album so far, and one of the best pop releases of the year, though followed closely by Metric. Zut Alors! This madness must stop!įrankly, the decision to make Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix our AOW this week was an easy one. Yet, somehow, we’ve never made a Phoenix album our Album of the Week. I can’t claim to have championed the band from the beginning, but I did catch on more quickly than most, and have been singing their praises ever since. I’ll start a group called “The Order of the Phoenix.” (Surely, that name hasn’t been used for anything else, right?) I have had the distinct pleasure of reviewing every previous Phoenix album, including the recent compilation of some of their favorite songs, Kitsuné Tabloid. If there is one French band for which I will gladly claim myself standard-bearer, it is Phoenix. Sure, like most, I enjoyed a few tracks from Daft Punk, Air and Justice, while also reveling in a lot of Serge Gainsbourg, but I’ve never been au-dessus de la lune for most things Gallic.

Wolfgang amadeus phoenix album download