Dumbest band name of the year? Maybe, but once you listen to the Phoenix quintet’s marvelously messy debut, Thinks and Feels, it almost makes sense. There’s nothing conventional about this outfit; even by experimental post-rock standards, they’re too weird to fit in, because you never know when they’re going to ditch the alien arrangements and whimsical time shifts in favor of some Marvin Hamlisch piano, Beach Boys vocal stacks, Neil Young space travel, or good old-fashioned classic rock. Calling them Menomena meets My Morning Jacket isn’t really accurate, but then, neither is pretty much any other point of reference you could come up with for this stuff. What matters most is whether or not it sucks, and Thinks and Feels decidedly does not. Woe to the listener who tries to absorb any of it out of the record’s context – this isn’t a pick-and-choose type of album – but give it a few front-to-back spins and feel yourself slowly being drawn into the weird, wonderful world of What Laura Says. Give them an “A” for originality, and join us in wishing best of luck to Terpsikhore when it comes to promoting any of this. (Terpsikhore 2008)
