Want to know what the most charming album of 2014 is? Well, you found the right review. PHOX is a six-piece indie pop band out of Wisconsin who prior to this year has only released an EP. However, the band has been at it for years and that shows in this album. I’m a guy out of a town that I am shocked to know more than 3 people in, so when these hometown friends exude a charm that is so unique and endearing, it was a bit comforting.
Their first full-length self-titled effort combines all the elements you’re looking for in a folk album with the elements of a pop album and brings them to a happy medium to create a sound that sounds so familiar, but you can’t place. The familiarity is comforting, but when the album begins to soar, like in the track “Evil” with its light guitar strums and surreal harmonies, you just have to buy into it.
After the charming two opening tracks, we come to the album’s lead single “Slow Motion”. Monica Martin is completely charming with her smokey and ever-moving vocals. The song is gently reminiscent of a gentle soul groove, but incorporates elements of folk to create a smooth and catchy track the perfectly leads into the strictly folk “1936”. With its soft guitar twangs and harmonic vocals, the track gives us yet another taste of this hometown charm that this group is bringing.
Despite the album’s charisma and seeming innocence, songs like “Laura” bring us lyrics like: “you can try and hide away from all the things that people say, that you need to be ok but you just stay the same.” That is the type of narrative maturity that makes the band so refreshing. So often in a band’s first outing are the lyrics so shallow and insincere, but there is a candor in the writing here. There are moments where that shallowness comes out, but it is always made up for with the punchy melodies supporting them.
PHOX sounds like an album written by a group that has has far more experience than this relatively young band. With tight harmonies, catchy melodies, and captivating instrumentation, PHOX was able to deliver an album that gives the listener everything they need to fall for a band. While the album lacks the power that we’re yearning for from the beginning, it doesn’t fail to deliver some great tracks.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.