Pretty Excited About | Phantogram

It's been a good couple of years for easy-to-digest, synth-driven, dream-gazing, psyche-pop bands - especially ones from New York. So good we might be growing tired of them, and that sucks for Phantogram because their hype-train may invite a critical derailing, when it rightfully deserves the same greenlights that bands like say Chairlift have enjoyed (and yes, earned). Truth be that Saratoga Springs isn't exactly Brooklyn, and Phantogram's sound isn't exactly the above descriptors (it's the above descriptors plus a random and awesome dosage of trip-hop).

Phantogram | Eyelid Movies (2009)

After an alarming amount of replays, it's got to be the "street beats", a term coined by Josh Carter, one half of this girl-guy duo, that really make Eyelid Movies. Sarah Barthel sails her warm voice above them while Carter strums distortion right through them. It's an odd yet rewarding dynamic.

"Mouthful of Diamonds", which leaped out of their debut EP earlier this year, also wastes no time here as the album's lead off and perhaps best summary of their brand. "When I'm Small" follows, and proves to be a close second. And this thing isn't even front-loaded. Eyelid Movies gets official release in February 2010, so my link would promptly be removed (you know the drill).