New album: Bankrupt!
Artist: Phoenix
Label: Atlantic
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Remember the group A-Ha? They had a massive worldwide hit with “Take On Me” in 1985. The group’s sound was dominated by synthesizers and a lead singer who could hit Freddie Mercury high notes as easily as if it were blinking.
A-Ha went on to have a respectable career in Europe for the next two decades, but in America the group might as well have been a beta max VCR. Why? Because for some reason any pop group that sprang to life in the 1980s was for the most part chained to that decade forever.
Fast forward to 2013, and some of the biggest bands in the world are the ones that have most successfully aped the synth-driven pop sound of the 1980s.
Phoenix has been releasing albums since 2000, with its biggest success being 2009’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” The new “Bankrupt!” builds on the success of “Wolfgang” but hovers in the musical and melodic areas that has served the band well in the past. The miscues that kept early albums “Alphabetical” and “It’s Never Been Like That” from being truly great have apparently been noted and neutralized.
The most blatant gob of paint pulled from the 1980s occurs during “The Real Thing,” when the door-knocker snare drum sound from the Prince classic “When Doves Cry” makes an appearance. “The Real Thing” has a great hook that is sung brilliantly by Thomas Mars, but it’s hard to conjure visions of “Purple Rain” during the song’s verses. Is this an homage or a blatant attempt at near subliminal marketing?
Most of the songs on “Bankrupt!” are pleasant enough (“S.O.S. in Bel Air,” “Trying to Be Cool”), but there’s not enough stink on the riffs or melodies to worm the material into the listener’s consciousness. The line dividing irony and affection blurs on “Drakkar Noir,” a nod to a popular 1980s cologne — which would make it an ode to an odor.
While some hipsters may listen to this album with a smirk on their ears, in the end Phoenixcould be making a case for the much maligned decade.
“Bankrupt!” is not an incredibly original batch of songs, but they're well-executed and fun. If you’re a child of the 1980s and are looking for a portal back to the days when preppies wore mullets and bands put babes in their videos, “Bankrupt!” fits the bill.
Also recommended: A-Ha — Definitive Singles Collection
Classic album: Mixed Bag
Artist: Richie Havens
Label: Verve
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Probably the best all-around musician of the 1960’s folk boom, Richie Havens, is annoyingly remembered by many as the guy who opened the original Woodstock Festival and sang in a commercial for Maxwell House coffee.
In reality, Havens was an inventive, original performer who, according to multiple media outlets, once got such a reaction from a Tonight Show audience that Johnny Carson invited him back the following night.
Released in 1967, “Mixed Bag” is as its title suggests — a collection of moods and styles that follow a neat narrative. Opening track “High Flyin’ Bird” features the driving, open-tuned guitar work that would define Havens’ sound for his entire career. Blessed with a voice as instantly recognizable as Sinatra or Joe Williams, Havens’ deep nasal tone was one of the most distinctive in folk or any genre.
Whether performing originals (“Adam,” “Three Days of Eternity”) or covers (Gordon Lightfoot’s “I Can’t Take It Anymore,” Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman”), Havens had the ability to make any song his own — no matter how iconic the original. His take on “Eleanor Rigby” is appropriately stark, but in his hands this Paul McCartney tune sounds less like a lament and more like a mystery that needs to be solved.
Havens made many recordings of note over his 45-year career, but none of them eclipse the soulful versatility and charm of “Mixed Bag.”
Also recommended: Richie Havens — Wishing Well
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase books, music and parachute pants at jondawson.com.