You don’t need to head to the Showbox this weekend for proof that Phoenix is ubiquitous. Yesterday I showed a friend around Seattle, we had Pho in Capitol Hill while Phoenix’s “1901” buzzed in the background, we went to an art supplies store and shopped to Phoenix’s “Listomania,” we went to see a movie at Pacific Place and on the long escalator ride to the theater we bobbed are heads to Phoenix— “1901” again. Sure indie rock sells things now, but the demographic dominance exhibited by Phoenix is a marketer’s wet dream. Is there anything you can’t consume while listening to Phoenix?
But for a band that represents the current advertisement-as-music-delivery-system sea change, Phoenix have a surprisingly Behind the Music back story. The band was formed in 1992, when three Versailles kids broke up. Their band, Darlin’, was split in two camps, the fussy pop formalist and the dance music loving, anime freaks. The pop formalist dropped out, recruited his brother and started Phoenix, a precise, dapper group of guitar pop aficionados. They were suave, they dated Sofia Coppola. The anime kids went the other way, they dressed up as robots, made a dancing skeleton video with Michel Gondry and, naming themselves after a Melody Maker review of Darlin’, became Daft Punk.
And then, what the fuck, the anime kids blew up. 2001′s Discovery made Daft Punk a household name while Phoenix’s can’t-miss single, “If I Ever Feel Better,” missed. Phoenix went on an under-appreciation bender, releasing perfect pop songs to mild acclaim. But 2006′s It’s Never Been Like That was better at being the Strokes than the Strokes, a collection of tightly wound masterpieces that quietly became an ipod staple. Word traveled from mouth to mouth and by the time of 2009′s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix it was their turn. Who knew this many people liked Phoenix? Who knew they were finally ready to be played in malls?
And so the band are a of strange tangle of contradictions: Career underachievers that just profoundly overachieved, retro pop classicists that define modern pop consumption, French people that Americans like.
You can’t get so knotty without killer tunes. “If I Ever Feel Better” might have flopped a decade ago but listening to it now is a revelation. Every piece is perfectly arranged and vocalist Tom Mars’ stilted melody predicts the Maroon 5 future. “Long Distance Call,” the single from their 2006 release, is guitar pop at it’s best. Between slithery synth and drum interplay the song coils and strikes with an ecstatic chorus. And the two hits from their most recent album practically glisten. “1901” surges and “Listomania” purrs. If you’re counting: That’s four flawless hits, three beloved albums and one decade defining break up. Let’s buy some fucking shoes.
Phoenix plays the Showbox Sodo Saturday Jan 23
