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.
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.
No Other Land follows a Palestinian activist as he documents the destruction of his community… Read More
TIFF 2024 | The Life of Chuck follows an enigmatic man starting as a surrealist… Read More
A pair of young Mormon missionaries find themselves at the center of a sinister plot… Read More
Moving back and forth in their history, We Live In Time follows a couple through… Read More
While it begins as a cat-and-mouse thriller, Strange Darling evolves (and genre-bends) into a psychological… Read More
Dìdi is an autobiographical romp through the life of a shy 13-year-old Taiwanese-American as he… Read More
Leave a Comment