Megan's Top 70 of 2010: #27 - The Phantom Band

Why I Decree it to Be So:

And now, dear friends, we come to my favorite band in all of Scotland, The Phantom Band. As The Kinks would say, they're not like everybody else, and hallelujah for that. Second album The Wants sees the gents travel to all sorts of kooky sonic places, anchored all the while by the big, earthy brogue of Rick Anthony. It's not the record I envisioned The Phantom Band making, but strangely The Wants is even more than I could have hoped for. The Wants goes here, there, and everywhere, backwards and forwards, upside down, rightside up, and just about anywhere else. They defy space, time, and genre with their mindbending blend of rocking dancefloor folk confoundery, and in the process made one of the most interesting records of 2010 by 1000 light years, and then some.

mp3: Walls (The Phantom Band from The Wants)

100 Shows of 2010 - #84: The Phantom Band @ 9:30 Club, 11/1/10

Of all the shows I've been totally excited about this year, there's one show that stands alone thus far as my most highly-anticipated show of the year. That, friends, would be those deliriously delightful Scots of The Phantom Band, otherwise known as the apples of mine eye. Ever since yours truly first heard the siren song of their record Checkmate Savage, I was in smit with their rugged, weird, glorious noise. So it was only natural for me to want to see the fantasticalness of those songs in the flesh. I probably would have been crushed beyond salvaging if the boys had been anything other than as wonderful as I had hoped. Thankfully, they were amazing.

MINI RECAP: The Phantom Band = Ya Dancer! Overall Score: A

They might have been the first band of the night, ladies and gentlemen, but as good as both Plants & Animals and Frightened Rabbit were, and they were very very good, this show was all about The Phantom Band, at least as far as I'm concerned. Their set was superb from the very beginning, putting forth as they did an astonishing rendition of "Throwing Bones" that sounded inescapably loud and haunting and just plain wonderful. Truth be told, I was there for the Checkmate Savage stuff, but it was rather interesting to get an earful of the offerings from sophomore record The Wants (don't worry, I'm sure I'll foam at the mouth about it soon). The new songs were rather a departure from the older, and took the band out of the glens and into the dancehalls. The darkness of their overall sound with some quite danceable beats made for one hell of a juxtaposition.

One of the stratospheric highs of the set came when the band launched into "Folk Song Oblivion", my second favorite of all Phantom Band songs. The sound, which ambles and rambles anyway, seemed even bigger yet even more stark than on record. Your guess is as good as mine, friends. However possible, it was magic. They have a way, much like British Sea Power to whom I think they are distantly related, sonically-speaking, of incorporating, intentionally or not, the natural landscapes of their motherland into their music. They can be terrifying, enthralling, and beautiful, and oftentimes all at once. My one complaint, albeit a minor one, was the omission of my absolute favorite song "Halfhound" from the set. Next time, please, lads.

I'm just gonna go ahead and state definitively that The Phantom Band is one of the best live bands around. They are louder, they are much more interesting, and they are inherently more charming than about 95% of bands out there. So do yourself a favor and embrace the brogue. You'll be ever so pleased you did.

mp3: Walls (The Phantom Band from The Wants)

mp3: Folk Song Oblivion (The Phantom Band from Checkmate Savage)

Megan’s Top 25 of 2009: 10-6

And here we are already, at the bottom half of the top ten. Here was where I found myself struggling the most to put a number next to a record, they’re all so very wonderful. Here we have both some saucy and some sorrowful Scots, some lively Louisianans, some nifty New Zealanders, and some wandering nomads of wonder. A seriously special group, I must say.

Do a little research and you might be a little surprised to discover that historically, New Zealand has a pretty darn good track record when it comes to putting out really great bands (The Clean, Look Blue Go Purple, The Chills, and The Bats to name a scant few). In keeping with the tiny nation’s tendency to churn out bands with a skillful blend of punk-pop seasoned with a decidedly English flavor, we now present Cut Off Your Hands at #10. They stick with the New Zealand tradition of musical Anglophilia, making You and I one heck of a delightful record. The record starts off big, with single “Happy As Can Be,” as good an opening impression as you could hope for. Big and bold, it sets the tone immediately and you know right away that you’re in for a treat. These charming boys are indebted to Brit stalwarts like Marr & Morrissey, and you’ll probably hear shades of The Smiths hither and thither, with a youthful edge. You’ll also hear some of the catchiest songs you’ve heard in quite some time, namely the “Expectations”-“Oh Girl”-“Turn Cold” triumvirate, joined a few songs later by the pairing of “Let’s Get Out of Here” and “Still Fond”. All of them are unavoidably addictive. They can even do a damn fine ballad, with the sentimental “Nostalgia” being one of my favorite songs on the record. So grab that special boy or girl and hold ‘em close, and fall in love with Cut Off Your Hands while you’re at it.

mp3: It Doesn’t Matter (Cut Off Your Hands from You and I)

I’ve recently heard My Maudlin Career called one of the best heartbreak albums of pretty much ever. While I’ll refrain from casting my vote one way or the other on that particular heart-wrenching subject, I will say that Camera Obscura made one of the best records of 2009 (#9, to be exact). The strength of Camera Obscura to me lies in their eternally sweet sound, bolstered by the perfectly weary yet still lovely vocals of Miss Tracyanne Campbell. It’s not easy to make sad sound so sugary, but Camera Obscura manages just fine. “French Navy,” the first track on the record, is one of my favorite songs of the year, and easily one of the most danceable, what with the jangle of the tambourine and jaunty attitude. And the wistful irony of “The Sweetest Thing,” with the lyric, “You challenged me to write a love song/Here it is/I think I got it wrong”. Hope you’ve got a box of Kleenex handy. “You Told a Lie” features vocals so fragile it sounds like our heroine is on the verge of tears as she delivers the lines. And so it goes, on and on, song after song of woeful, painful, beautiful misery. If it’s not the best heartbreak album ever, it’s certainly near the top of the heap. Hey Lloyd, they were ready to be heartbroken, and they certainly got what they asked for. They got heartbreak, and we got a great record.

mp3: Swans (Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career)

Moving away from broken hearts but staying in Scotland, may I present #8 on the Top 25, otherwise known as The Phantom Band’s Checkmate Savage. I’ve likened them to British Sea Power with a brogue, and I think given their propensity for sonic experimentation and oft-bizarre lyrics it’s not such a bad comparison. Right away this isn’t your usual rock album, as the Phantoms go in for expansive sounds and wacky noises, and actual howling in “The Howling”. “Folk Song Oblivion” is just that, a slight hint of an acoustic guitar layered upon with structured guitars and oftentimes monotonous vocals, making for yet another interesting effect. Like British Sea Power, The Phantom Band doesn’t shy away from long, rambling songs, with four songs clocking in over six minutes each. My favorite song on the record, “Halfhound,” is a fierce, forceful track interspersed with gentler moments of light, before plunging back into darkness. Checkmate Savage is wild and wooly and dark and completely, wonderfully insane. And I love it to pieces. This is definitely a band I’m dying to see live, because I need to visualize how this crazy bastard of a record was made. So dearest darling Phantom Band, please make it happen.

mp3: Throwing Bones (The Phantom Band from Checkmate Savage)

Switching gears once again, it’s time to visit my absolute favorite group of Louisianans, the good people of Generationals. My #7 record is their ever-so-excellent Con Law, otherwise known as the aural equivalent of a little ray of sunshine. Formed by Grant Widmer & Ted Joyner (and some amigos) of the now-defunct and greatly missed indiepop outfit The Eames Era, Generationals will light up the darkest of days, guaranteed. They’ve made a record that made me grin uncontrollably the first time I heard it, a grin that reappears during every subsequent listen. Something about listening to Con Law makes me want to jump in the car, go somewhere sunny and warm, and drive around blasting the album with my sunroof open and the windows down, drinking in the sunshine. “Angry Charlie” is my favorite I’d have to say, but each and every song on this record is divine, so well-produced and beautifully, gleamingly clean (but not overly so, mind you). It’s the perfect album to listen to and long for Summer (as I look out my window to a view of an endless blanket of cold, cold snow). Even the substance abuse-themed “Bobby Beale” sounds light and freshly summery, though the subject matter is anything but. So take heed, while enjoying the lovable musical stylings of Generationals, because as they so lyrically and wisely put it, “Everyone’s a dime a dozen/Everyone’s a wolf in waiting”.

mp3: Exterior Street Date (Generationals from Con Law)

They missed the top 5 by a hair, and the top spot by just a few hairs. But at #6, These United States is still one of the loves of my musical life. Having proved their musical chops over the course of two previous records, Jesse Elliott and company reappeared for yet another go at musical superiority. The fruits of their labors this time around is the most excellent Everything Touches Everything, both a thought to ponder and an album to really fall in love with. Opening track “I Want You to Keep Everything” is another of my overall favorites from 2009, a bit unexpectedly poppy coming from the These United States camp, but a very welcome song indeed. Continuing on, Everything Touches Everything ends up being a record you might have expected from These United States. It’s full of their utterly disarming, rustic simplicity, be it in the form of acoustic or slide guitars, and Elliott’s rambling and ambling and occasionally obtuse (though always fantastic) lyrics. “We’re going out/With our hearts strapped across our chests,” Elliott boldly proclaims in the titular track, and somehow you can picture Jesse venturing forth, red heart pinned to his chest to boldly face the unknown. Somehow, though it jumps all over the place, the album never loses its cohesion, or ceases to follow the tried and true TUS blueprint. Perhaps that IS the TUS blueprint, come to think of it. And what a good plan it is.

mp3: Night & The Revolution (These United States from Everything Touches Everything)

Album Review: The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage

Ok, so The Phantom Band is Scottish, thereby giving them an unfair edge for earning my undying love and affection. But before you start worrying that my vision is blurred by saltires and sporrans, fear not. I love The Phantom Band for a whole lot more than the mere accident of nationality.

For instance, earlier this year the band happened to put out on a record, Checkmate Savage, on the most excellent label Chemikal Underground (home to various other excellent bands of the past and current day such as Arab Strap, Mogwai, and Sluts of Trust). As a general point of reference, I like to think of The Phantom Band as being a sort of British Sea Power with a brogue, adding a little bith more northerly darkness to an already heavy and intellectual brand of music. I for one would maim to see those two bands share a stage (BSP + TPB = Happy Megan).

But what makes the record so good, you might ask? The easy answer is everything, of course, but I'll expand a little. As with British Sea Power, The Phantom Band just exudes more intelligence than most bands out there. Clinic, too, shares this smartypants, highly-educated and infinitely quirky sound. Looking at the album cover, it makes me think that maybe there's some deep symbolism behind the Shaker chairs and upside down doorways. Perhaps it's the unconventional lyrics that go well beyond the lovelorn moping or angst of many a band. And, of course, they've got fantastic lyrics. "Leave my spirit/cuz lust and sin/is all that I want" might just be my new (unofficial) motto. The first song on the album, "The Howling," the song from whence the aforementioned lyric comes, was my introduction to the album. When I first heard it, I stopped what I was doing and just sat still. It's such a curious song, layered with unexpected sounds and ghostly choruses and driven by a very distinct, powerful voice. It's just over six minutes long and it feels like an odyssey, so much musical ground does it cover. So too can be said of the entire album. It's a mish-mash of so much that it nearly bursts at the seams. My absolute favorite track on the album is "Halfhound, " posted below for your listening pleasure (you're welcome). It's several songs in one, as with just about every song on Checkmate Savage. I love the taut riff that serves as the spine of parts of the song, bordering as it does on sounding slightly sinister. But damned if I don't adore each and every one of the nine songs on this disc. Another one to pay close personal attention to is "Island," a slower, gentler (longer) number than most of the others. But again, this is a fantastic record. Buy it now.

If the above hadn't already convinced you of the fact, you can consider it a safe bet that Checkmate Savage will be in my top ten albums of this great year 2009. Give it a few listens, and it just might make its way into yours.

mp3: Halfhound (Buy: The Phantom Band)