ACL Artist Profiles: Phoenix and Alberta Cross
A full decade into their careers, Versailles, France group Phoenix have hit a career high point with the release of this year's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. A concise, catchy blend of the potential they've always shown, the record was crafted over an extended period of time, and it shows. Songs like "Lizstomania", "1901", and "Girlfriend" mix a modern production sheen (courtesy of Philippe Zdar of Cassius) with melodies that are completely unafraid of going pop. The results aren't exactly indie, yet given the lack of American radio outlets for this type of thing, Phoenix are a pop-rock band in an era where there simply aren't many contemporaries for them. Festivalgoers may recognize some of the group's music from Sofia Coppola films (she's the longtime partner of vocalist Thomas Mars) or from their earlier work with French electronic duo Air. In sum, the band will provide you with an hour of dark lyrics coupled with unspeakably good hooks - don't miss them.
Phoenix will perform on Friday, October 2 at 4:30pm on the AMD Stage.
There's a fairly direct classic rock sensibility to the music of New York's Alberta Cross - to put it simply, fans of Neil Young and Ryan Adams will find this hugely appealing. The band originally formed in London, but you'd never know it from the loud guitars and ramshackle drumming that will immediately make you think of "Southern Man" and "Ohio". Alberta Cross arrive at ACL to support new ATO album Broken Side Of Time (which was recorded in Austin with Spoon producer Mike Mccarthy) after opening from everyone from Oasis to Dave Matthews in recent months. The band calls the record "darker" and "angrier" than their debut album, and cites living in New York as the primary reason for their edginess. Expect a lot of KGSR listeners to wander over to this stage based on the open guitar chords alone - it is Americana with mass appeal.
Alberta Cross will perform on Saturday, October 3 at 12:30pm on the LiveStrong stage.
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