Phoenix brought their tightly-wound, danceable brand of hipster rock to “Saturday Night Live” last night as they eye the release of their fifth studio album, “Bankrupt!”, on April 23.
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The French foursome last visited Studio 8H in 2009 while promoting their commercial breakthrough, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.”
Four years later, the band looked the same (albeit a tad greyer) as they spiritedly performed lead single “Entertainment,” which rose to No. 14 on the Alternative Songs chart this week.
Described as a “manic synthesizer showcase” in this week’s Billboard cover story, the track indeed has a dual-keyboard attack (Deck d’Arcy had his bass around his shoulder the entire song, but never played it, instead focusing on the black-and-whites).
Other members — frontman Thomas Mars and guitarists Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz — swiveled and jangled to the stylish track. Watch:
For their second song, the band seamlessly morphed two other album standouts, “Trying to Be Cool” and “Drakkar Noir.” On “Cool,” Mars told Billboard the song is actually about the opposite.
“It’s about failing,” he said. “When you’re in a rock band, you transform yourself into a hero, a kind of god-like figure. But the really great artist are more clever than that… Being cool is boring.” Watch:
Phoenix will headline the first Saturday of Coachella on April 13 and follow that up with a visit to “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on April 18.