Voices

Great snyths and beats. Excellent vocals and addictive hooks. Every track on this album is good. I usually listen to this cd while I am drawing and it really gets my creative juices going. If you like Metric, the XX, and Glitch Mob you may like this album alot. But don't be fooled this bad has a style all the own, this two person band does it all, the play instruments and they both sing and sing really good. The album kicks off with the haunting Nothing but Trouble to the even more eerie and intense Black Out Days to the very upbeat sounding and pulse pounding Fall in Love, to the saddeing Howl at the Moon and deep meaning Futuristic Casket. This album is worth the money in spades. Who says you need huge production values and a million hands in the cookie jar to make a good album? These two get it and they do it better than most. A must buy and a must own.

I first became aware of Phantogram in 2009 when they played a small music club in St. Louis called "The Firebird". The duo had energetic vocals and live performance. The lead singer reminded me of a cross between Louise Brooks and Crissy Hind. Her vocal range is great, and she has a stage presence and sincerity lacking in many of her contemporaries. The whole audience was charmed. Flash forward to 2014, and the band has a newer, lusher and slicker album called "Voices" and they are playing much larger venues like the "The Pageant" in St. Louis. In spite of this, they have kept their warm stage presence and ability to engage an audience. The writing is just as good-even better! Though a bit slicker. I enjoy that Josh Carter is doing more vocals in this new release. See them in concert if they are near your city or town. Buy this album if you like Sonic Youth, AIR, or old school Pretenders, Concrete Blonde, Cocteau Twins or even Sterolab.

I LOVE this album, in so many ways and for so many reasons. Before I ordered it, saw Phantogram perform on an episode of Audience channel's "Guitar Sessions". I was intrigued by their descriptions of the way they mixed in beats from hip hop and rap, and when you listen carefully you can really pick up on that even though the vibe is more rock. The sound and lyrics are very original, in a world of carbon-copy gimmie-a-fast-hit songs. The most amazing thing I have discovered only recently is the depth and versatility of the sound. If you turn the bass all the way up, you have one style and sound in the songs, but if you put the bass on half and turn the treble all the way up, it is a completely different experience. And I don't mean in the ordinary way in which songs sound better or worse with "fuller" or "thinner" sound when you adjust bass and treble. I'm saying they are completely different songs almost, and both sound wonderful! Now THAT is an accomplishment worth noting. In this listeners opinion, Phantogram is the real thing: a band creating high art in a world that sometimes seems to have sold its artistic soul. Thank you, Phantogram. I definitely want more!

I first heard them when Mouthful of Diamonds was getting rotation on 89.3 the current and could not get the song out of my head. I started to dig a bit more into what they had and heard the live version of Don't Move in The Current studios and was indeed hooked!Now with Voices the production quality and song writing have coalesced into exactly where they needed to be with this release.I particularly love Howling at the Moon, Black Out Days, Nothing But Trouble and the first one I heard from it Fall in Love.I am thoroughly impressed with all of the songs on this recording and am looking forward to what they do in the future.

If you already like Phantogram then this title is a sure thing. If you have never heard of Phantogram then some of the songs will sound familiar from commercial sound bites. They are different from mainstream pop in a positive way and this title hones their craft to a new level. They have the same tools in voice and instrumentation but have upped the level of refinement on some tracks and sonic complexity on other tracks. The added Digital Booklet is nice as an electronic version of the CD jacket-booklet.

OK album. Some OK songs. Not impressed with the rest. Very lazy on the rest of the album.

I've mixed feelings about this album. The first three tracks are stellar. Truly, they're amazing, well-written, perfectly balanced, and a blast to listen to. Then track 4 hits you, and it feels like you're listening to a different band, or like this song doesn't belong. It's bland, boring, slow. The remaining tracks (after #4) aren't bad (some are quite good, really), but it never makes it back up to the bar set by the first three tracks. There's so much energy, excitement and well-written music in the beginning, and it's a shame it doesn't last all the way to the end.

In case you didn't know, Phantogram has collaborated with rap giant, Big Boi. After hearing some of the tracks from this CD, you will understand why. This album starts out with the heavy hitting "Nothing But Trouble." Swooning vocals over synth heavy beats equals Phantograms successful formula. The percussion in tracks such as "Howling at the Moon" and "Blackout Days" will cause your head to bob before you know it. Some of these tracks could be heard on the self-titled EP released late last year. The sound of these songs fits cohesively with the new tracks. Highlights include "Nothing But Trouble," "Blackout Days," "Fall in Love," and "Howling at the Moon."