Phoenix

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• Genre: Indie Pop
• Hometown: Paris
• Phoenix Website

About

When Phoenix first hit American indie audiences, they were already tight with Beck and the French band Air. Hailing from the Parisian suburbs, Phoenix began putting their act together like any other suburban band -- in the garage. The band comprised of vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck D'Arcy and guitarist Christian Mazzalai (his older brother Laurent "Branco" Brancowitz joined them in 1995 after playing in Darlin' with Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo, who would later become Daft Punk). On their first album, 2000's United, they lay down R&B-influenced grooves with 1980s-inspired synth pop to create their trademark sound of breezy, indie electro-pop. Their follow-up, 2004's Alphabetical, helped push the band a little further beyond the French music scene with the help of single "Everything is Everything." Next came extensive touring, the release of 2006's It's Never Been Like That and more touring. Phoenix made their biggest impact yet on the American audience when they performed on Saturday Night Live prior to dropping 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

- Stephanie Benson