Pride

I saw Phosphorescent open last night for one of the most (over)hyped bands out of SXSW, Bon Iver. The concert could have ended after Phosphorescent and I would have gotten my money's worth.Me sitting in my cube listening to this band after a quick and cheap download from amazon is the culmination of the internet. I'm shedding tears of pure joy right now. I had never heard of this band before yesterday. And today, I'm adding Matthew Houck and his lovely troupe to my top 5 bands of the year. Its only March, too.Aside from putting on a helluva show, the music captures the spirit of the live music. Often times when I buy the album after a great live concert, I'm disappointed by it losing the "live" feel. However, the production and sound of this album Pride is so spot on, that its been on repeat for the last 8 hours. I wish I could hear the 12 minute rendition of wolves again, but now I understand the inspiration of it in its 6 minute cd version.To those of you who have never ventured out of your comfort zone to buy a cd you may or may not like, please take a plunge with this band. They have a lot to live up too as I'm looking to fill the void of Jason Lytle of Grandaddy refusing to put out another album. You can listen to the words or use it as background music to impress your date. Its driving music, thinking music, and listening music. This album is a success. I don't normally buy an album without more research and when I do I normally regret it. Not this time. For once, my gamble has paid off.I wish I could be more specific about the album, but I only know that I haven't been this excited about a band in a long long time. Another review describes the simplicity of the album. I can agree. Its as if the animal collective, after a long night on LSD, decided to take special k to come down. And somewhere in that long trip down, Phosphorescent showed up.

Probably not for everyone, but if you like alt-country, you'll probably like this. A surprising ampount of the music takes place in the background with subtle percussion and yelps adding an amazing depth to the sound. When I listen to it, I imagine I'm hiking in the Appalachians and I stumble across a ghost town where I can hear funky music coming from an abandoned church. When I walk in, there's this band of hillbillies dressed in overcoats and boots, jamming on beat-up instruments. Some of the lyrics are as good as anything by the Avett Brothers.

I heard the track 'Be Dark Night' on the National Geographic website where it was played with a super slow-motion film of a cheetah sprinting. I bought the album immediately. The strangest thing is that it is beyond my ability to describe it to my friends, it doesn't fit into any genre I know. There is nothing quite like it. Just sit back and let it take you on one hell of a trip!

I love their music but the record would not play correctly at all! The sounds were off and the pitch was terrible!

Great band! Check him out.

I play this album constantly. Bare bones, minimalist classics. Great for relaxing, contemplating, recharging. Though the rest of Matthew Houck's stuff sounds a bit different, his premise as a vocalist and composer are classic. The complexity lacking in the instrumentation is more than made up for in the lyrics; thoughtful, meandering lyrics over a polysyllabic rhyme structure. A great overall work.

I love his cover of the Vampire weekend song. This is not that.

I love this music....great singer-songwriter...honest, raw lyrics that are haunting and beautiful. Highly recommend any album by this band. Beautiful music!

Love this bands sound

Happy!

Very quick delivery. Goods as described.

I had bought his latest album before getting this one and this is so different. It is almost minimalist everything pared back just leaving the essence of the tunes. It is haunting throughout and I did not quite get it at first but then I saw a video someone had kindly posted on 'You Tube' featuring the mournfully beautiful 'Wolves'from this album (it features native Americans playing with thier dogs in the snow from around 1940 and it exquisite)and I listened to the whole album again and it clicked.Stand out tracks are the aforementioned 'Wolves' but also opener 'A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise' which he (they) played on his (thier) recent tour with the same gusto as the tracks on 'Heres to taking It Easy' and it worked even better. Also 'My Dove My Lamb'. The album does descend into animal like yelps and whoops on final track 'Pride' which I must admit I really do not get and as it is only 8 tracks I felt a wasted opportunity, but all in all still a really lovely piece of work.

Super lovely, every song is great. Nice quality.