lisztomania... think less but see it grow

I had two choices last Monday night: read a fifty-page paper on global economic integration, or take my friend up on her offer to see Phoenix on their sold-out tour... naturally, it was a pickle. As the band lapped up the waves of love from a legion of American Apparel-clad fans, I couldn't help detecting bewildered surprise in Thomas Mars' repeated thank-yous. It must be disorienting, I realized, to spend years and years making album after album and then suddenly hit it so big, so quickly.

The next day, I even heard "1901" in a Cadillac commercial. I died a little inside, but not because I felt like Phoenix sold out; I just wish they'd have picked a better car company, as I'm quite sure the primary Cadillac-buying demographic these days is the Cash for Clunkers program. Putting on cool music and sticking the former Mrs. Dr. McDreamy in the driver's seat isn't really going to give the American auto industry comparative advantage... but I digress.

I can't help wondering whether there's any rhyme or reason to any of the hype that surrounds "indie" bands. Sometimes critics will suggest a band has only now hit it big because its latest album is just vastly superior to its predecessors -- but in all honesty it seems more like a fortuitous combination of marketing and luck. Just listen to It's Never Been Like That, Phoenix's last album. It's a tightly wound, bouncing ball of garage-pop joy, particularly "Long Distance Call" (which is also really great live) and "Sometimes in the Fall" (which, on last check, was posted to The Hype Machine a grand total of two times). They were quietly beating The Strokes at their own game back in 2005 but still slipped under the radar...

More on the hype factor later. For now, some songs from underrated "before they hit it big (in the States)" albums:

lisztomania