Phantogram – Eyelid Movies – Album Review

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Written By Murdoch Watson
Score: 7.7/10

The generic label iTunes assigns to Eyelid Movies, the debut album from the duo Phantogram, is “alternative.”  With so many indie bands sounding alike, the moniker “alternative” doesn’t really make sense, Eyelid Movies is the exception.  This group sticks themselves out from the pack on their first album with a sound like Human League mixed with J. Dilla’s beats.  Phantogram consists of childhood friends Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel who surfaced not from Brooklyn, Seattle or London but from the bustling Saratoga Springs scene.  Hailing from a town not overrun by indie copy cats frees them from any mimicking that could spoil their originality.

Phantogram – When I’m Small

The duo share turns on the vocals but the strongest songs are the ones that feature Carter and Barthel together, like “You Are the Ocean.”  They take some big chances, and with the exception of “Running from the Cops” all their risks pay off.  It’s the first single off the album but it doesn’t leave the listener with a fair representation of what to expect on Eyelid Movies.  The album opener “Mouthful of Diamonds” or “As Far As I Can See” would have been a better choice to showcase this great new band.

The album is refreshingly rough around the edges and doesn’t feel over produced.  Although a few too many of the beats sound the same the album is pretty unpredictable.  Think of it like the bizarro version of last summer’s The xx album.  Instead of the contained, smooth, atmospheric dream pop of xx, Eyelid Movies gives us a manic, often disjointed, noir-ish, shoegazey album.  Phantogram sounds like trip-hop revisited, while Carter and Barthel refer to their sound as “street beat, psych pop”, whatever name you want to call it it’s refreshing.

-Visit Phantogram
-Buy Eyelid Movies