Phantogram crossed my path this summer when I went to the Toyota Antics and FILTER Culture Collide block party in Echo Park. I had no idea who they were, but they happened to be on right after White Lies so I stuck around. The larger than life funky sonic beat filled the air and there was no escaping it. Without warning I began to dance and couldn’t stop till their set was over. Sara Barthel and Josh Carter are the two parts that make up this dynamic Saratoga Springs duo. She sounds like an angel with delicate melodies dancing on her tongue while she pounds on a keyboard making it appear exceptionally punk rock. And he sounds oddly intriguing, a bit like a mix between Peter Gabriel and Kurt Cobain, while he slovenly strums the guitar and beats the MPC pad occasionally. They stole my heart while I was completely unaware that day. That evening I went home and bought Eyelid Movies and I haven’t stopped listening to it and sharing it with friends ever since then. You Are the Ocean is the one song that I listen to on repeat with headphones in while lying on my bed like a teenage girl. Similar to the way I behaved when I first discovered The Pixies album Doolittle.
As for Abe Vigoda, I had been hearing about them for years and never really checked out any of their stuff until a few months ago. I listened to several albums, but it was their most recent release, Crush, that really caught my ears. A local Los Angeles band and a product of The Smell in downtown. Michael Vidal, Juan Velazquez, David Reichardt and Dane Chadwick make up Abe Vigoda. Mix equal parts of David Bowie and New Order to create the electro pop rocks cocktail that drips down your ears like warm honey. The song Thowing Shade is what first got my attention on this album. It starts off with an up tempo electro synth beat and vocals that tease you and draw you in as the song builds into a waterfall of sound that envelopes you. The production on the Crush album is clean and precise without sounding too polished. Keeping the gritty roots of this experimental noise band alive in their evolution. The song Repeating Angel sounds like something that belongs in a John Hughes movie. I may never grow tired of this song.
