Prior to 2009 if you had asked most music fans if they had heard of Phoenix, they’d likely have thought that you were talking about Arizona’s capital city and not the Parisian act. That all changed with the release of the band’s fourth studio album – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The record featured ear-wormy electro-disco-rock tracks like Lasso, 1901 and Lisztomania, which propelled Thomas Mars & Co. from a little known underground band to a critical and commercial success story seemingly overnight. While they had their hype machine working early, with a song featured during the Super Bowl, the band’s big break came when they made their debut appearance on Saturday Night Live, where they have the rare distinction of playing three songs on the long-running late-night sketch show.
With Phoenix gearing up for the release of their long-awaited follow-up Bankrupt!, which hits stores on April 23, the band made a return trip to 30 Rock, as they were once again booked to perform at Studio 8H this past weekend. While they only got the standard two song appearance this time around, the band offered up takes on the album’s lead single Entertainment, as well as the brand new tracks Trying To Be Cool / Drakkar Noir. Let’s check it out..
