Oakland – We all have that friend… you know the one: that one guy or gal that claims that the title of the best band they’ve ever seen live, or the best studio sessions they’ve ever surrendered to happen to belong to some random, semi-esoteric duo or trio, despite the fact that you know they’ve seen Radiohead and/or Daft Punk and/or Prince during their lifetime. Admittedly, I’ve fallen prey to such designations—when I saw Son Lux last year I heralded it as one of the very best shows I’ve ever seen, and to this day I stand by the significance of that show in my overall experience with live music, though it will never come close to the likes of the Chemical Brothers, or Paul McCartney, or almost any of the eight times I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Radiohead live.
I happen to have a friend that swears that electronic duo Phantogram is the best act out there today. This is a friend who has been a DJ for years and has been exposed to a plethora of music over the past few decades; still, he shows no hesitation in awarding Phantogram with the title of “Best Modern Musical Outfit.” The New York-based duo—consisting of vocalist Sarah Barthel and producer Josh Carter—has been quite a powerhouse over the years, blasting onto the scene with the 2010 breakthrough debut LP Eyelid Movies (which features popular singles “When I’m Small” and “Mouthful of Diamonds”), and following up with a handful of EPs and sophomore LP Voices, released in 2014. This is a band that takes its time when it comes to the aural design of albums, as well as the visual aspects of the respective tours that follow each of the band’s releases. Since the time between the duo’s first two albums was so vast, and since the two have been involved in other projects (namely teaming up with Outkast’s Big Boi to form group Big Grams last year, which spawned an EP and subsequent tour), it’s somewhat surprising that Phantogram’s third LP—appropriately titled Three (Republic Records)—is upon us so soon.
Listening to Three almost feels like conducting a phone interview with an average job candidate: it’s confident, it’s humble, but at the same time, it doesn’t bring a whole lot of ingenuity to the table. Let me be clear: I am in NO WAY saying that this is a “bad” album; it’s quite the opposite. I am a firm believer in the age-old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Some of my favorite bands have found palpable comfort in relying on an inherent style that made them notable, latching onto the compositional elements that define them as the leaders of their chosen genre. Bands like Beach House and Spoon flourish within the self-imposed boundaries they have set for themselves sonically, yet they still find wiggle room to reinvent their aesthetic within such confines. Phantogram is in a similar boat: little has changed when it comes to the band’s selected genre of energetic-yet-gloomy electronica. Some may see this is as problematic, as the duo seems to have settled into a “comfort zone” of sorts, yet after listening to Three, it’s very clear that the two musicians are not settling. Phantogram’s compositional methods may not have wavered dramatically from those permeating previous releases; instead the pair has solidified its massively poignant blend of evocative lyrics and shadowy production into an incredibly successful collection of songs.
Last week, Phantogram passed through the Bay Area on its current tour, supporting Three, stopping at the beautiful Fox Theatre in downtown Oakland to showcase the majority of the newest release, while also peppering in some older favorites from the band’s first two albums and more popular EPs. After a dynamite set from Pennsylvania-based producer The Range (and a brief intermission), Ms. Barthel and Mr. Carter took to the stage, slipping behind a thin, sheer curtain for the first four songs of their set. The silky curtain served as a canvas, upon which laser-projected designs danced unique ballets that perfectly matched each of the band’s introductory numbers.
Phantogram opened with the first track off Three, a song entitled “Funeral Pyre” that masks Barthel’s heavily reverberated vocals behind massive dark-wave production, almost as if someone mixed a Lower Dens demo with a mid-80s Cure B-side. No other new songs inspired the sort of intricate, shadowy geometric patterns that were flung onto the pale black scrim (we instead were treated to Voices highlight “Black Out Days” and two songs off the Nightlife EP, released in 2012—“Turning Into Stone” and the incomparable “Don’t Move”), though as the screen was lifted the duo blasted through three Three tracks: glitchy “You’re Mine,” slow-jam “Answer”—which somewhat surprisingly rests on warm vocals provided by Josh Carter—and the boisterous “Same Old Blues,” which matches snappy percussion with vocals that would make diehard fans of Karen O (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame) blush with appreciated respect. “Same Old Blues” features some of the most intricate orchestration encountered on Three, mashing punchy clap-beats, blistering guitar riffs, and melancholy silences that turn Sarah Barthel’s vocals into pained a capella gasps that find strength in their minimalism.
Phantogram pleased seasoned fans with songs off Eyelid Movies—“When I’m Small,” “Mouthful of Diamonds,” “Futuristic Casket”—only playing one more new song before the end of the main set: the epic ballad “Destroyer,” which situates Phantogram in perhaps its poppiest role to date. “Destroyer” scales sonic mountains that one would not expect to confront from the notoriously bleak electronic duo. Most fans would expect a song structured as such to be delivered with a much more tangible sense of doom and desperation, yet Barthel effortlessly navigates the terrain with unparalleled somatic depth. This track is one of the more arresting and surprising songs on Three, mostly because Sarah Barthel—despite her terrifically vigorous stage presence—shows an unfamiliar yet incredibly welcome facet of vulnerability, not often seen in the band’s earlier work.
Phantogram’s encore mostly featured more of the band’s new material, save for fan-favorite “Fall in Love” (from Voices). After some thunderous applause, the duo returned to the stage, along with a handful of touring musicians, to offer up a few more selections from Three, kicking things off with the synth-driven acid trip of a song “Barking Dog,” and following up with sample-heavy “Cruel World,” that plays heavily off the band’s original sound, melding simple bittersweet piano with Barthel’s buoyant lyrics and rippling, repetitive vocal samples. Everything ended with a performance of Three’s main single, the perfectly constructed “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” which is perhaps the duo’s best song in years, juggling fiery bursts of production with inventive time signatures and heady lyrics comparing personal relationships to exponential immunity one encounters when indulging in habitual drug use. The song is a powerful metaphor for the tragic, exasperating disenchantment one can experience at the end of a relationship, enhanced by throbbing electronic production that is almost migraine inducing.
While Phantogram is no Radiohead, and while the duo’s latest LP is nothing near earth shattering, Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter have submerged themselves in their element—and it reads incredibly well on the stage. And while I may somewhat disagree with my friend who worships the two musicians, I can’t help but respect his decision to revere them. Phantogram may have settled into a niche, but its music is still far from boring. Hopefully in the future Phantogram will attempt to branch out, but for now, we can find comfort and solace in consistency.
Phantogram’s Three is now available via iTunes and Amazon. The band is currently on tour in North America through December. For more information and tour dates visit the Phantogram Facebook page.
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Photography by Corey Bell for Best New Bands.
Corey Bell
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