For a band that once held the honors of being the Electronic group Air's backing band, Phoenix sure have come a long way. In the ten years since they formed, they've gone from being a moody rock band with tinges of Soul and Electronica to France's answer to The Strokes and, just maybe, the best Pop/Rock band that the French have ever offered.

Those who never checked out Phoenix's criminally overlooked 2006 album It's Never Been Like That need to do so immediately. With more hooks than a championship prizefighter, it really is a shame that it never took off and made them Rock stars. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix will hopefully change that (their performance on Saturday Night Live almost two months ago before this album came out is still buzzed about) even though it isn't quite as strong as its predacessor. The two crowning jewels here, "Lisztomania" and "1901" are sure to be soundtracks of the summer with their catchy hooks, lyrics and Pop/Rock sheen. The slight negative is that the rest of the album struggles to catch up with these two pieces of perfection. After multiple listens, tracks such as the bouncy "Lasso" and the Disco-Funk of "Fences" open up more readily, but nothing here will ever match the overwhelming power that the two opening tracks exude. But a band that puts out not one but two of the best songs out of the year deserves to be heralded and hopefully Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the record that finally puts these boys from France over the top.