Phoenix’s Bankrupt And Their Attempt To Be The Biggest Band In The World

“If ["Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"] was [Radiohead's] ‘The Bends,’ this ["Bankrupt"] is ‘OK Computer’.” – Simon White, Phoenix’s manager

In my opinion, Phoenix’s brand new album, ‘Bankrupt’ is pretty much like ‘The Bends’, instead of ‘OK Computer’. Why?

Phoenix went on to grab their mainstream prize in 2006 with their album “It’s Never Been Like That”. An album that created a shape of their ideology and style (after 2 albums of jingly-jungly catchy synth-pop). “It’s Never Been Like That” catapulted them into the airwaves, with a massive airplay around the world (in Indonesia, Napoleon Says and Long Distance Call were one of their hits which you could found on the radio playlist).

But their 2009 album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, was their BOMB.

They’ve shaped everything perfectly. They’ve created their own style (in 2006, they’re pretty much like The Strokes). They’ve created a huge fan base, they got a song in a major commercial, and then went on to win the Grammys. “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” is pretty much like Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey” and to overcame the success of a massive album is a massive task. Every huge bands knows that.

Phoenix’s “Bankrupt” is one of the hardest task ever. In this album, they have to follow the success of “Wolfgang Amadeus” and improve their musicalities at the same time. Well, Phoenix has drowned in the music industry for more than 10 years. They’ve proved us with their four studio albums, and most of them showed us an escalation from one to another. But on “Bankrupt”, they have to choose between going for “Wolfgang Amadeus II” or making a completely different new album from their last (which they usually do) and hoping that it will sparks into the atmosphere (again). On “Bankrupt”, they’ve decided to go for the latter. Radiohead has chosen the same way while working on “The Bends”. They’ve decided not to make “Creep vol. 2″ but go with a different hits such as “High and Dry” to achieve bigger success.

“Bankrupt!” still got some of the key formula from “Wolfgang Amadeus” such as Heart-thumping drums (provided by Thomas Hedlund) and Thomas Mars’s signature, his repeated words. But still, this album showed us a major difference from their past albums.

First track from their album, “Entertainment”, is a mixture of a layered synth and a chinese-like theme song. It was their first single off and it was a perfectly crafted song. The energy, provided by Thomas Hedlund’s crazy drumming, is one of the attractions of the song. Meanwhile the sentence “I’d rather be alone” at the end of the chorus is the cherry on top. Their decision to put “The Real Thing” and “S.O.S. In Bel Air” right after “Entertainment” was a good call. Both of them sounds similar and lovely at the same time. The fatty synth is the red line.

Unlike “Wolfgang Amadeus”, there are some of the songs from the album which was pretty hard to digest, such as “Oblique City” and “Bourgeois”. The track “Bankrupt” was also a letdown compared to their similar song such as “Love Like A Sunset”. Meanwhile, “Trying To Be Cool” and “Drakkar Noir” are a potential hits that will remind you of a layered thick synth from Michael Jackson’s classic, “Thriller”. The lead synth on “Trying To Be Cool” and the way Thomas Mars pronounce “Drakkar Noir” are one of the highlights of the album.

“Bankrupt!” is an album that will took some time before you finally realized that you love it. Despite the fact that this album doesn’t have a capacity to overcome the success of “Wolfgang Amadeus”, this is the album that will catapulted them into the big leagues.

Well, they’ve headlined Coachella and some of Europe’s major festivals. They’re in the big leagues now.