aaamusic | On 17, Oct 2010

‘The Wants’ is brand new album from ‘The Phantom Band’, full of soft experimental instrumentals and soothing powerful male vocals similar to that of Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro).

The opening track ‘A Glamour’, is soft and soothing but still has a classic rock heart as shown by the powerful masculine vocals and addictive guitar riffs around the mid section of the track, which is made even more obvious as a quality of ‘The Phantom Band’, with the following track ‘O’, which has an added edge and higher secondary vocals allowing the track to sync into perfect harmony.

However, the third track ‘Everybody Knows It’s True’ moves away from the prominent classic rock beats and riffs, into softer more upbeat experimental rhythms and melodies, displaying ‘The Phantom Bands’ capability of versatility. This versatility is made an example with the fourth track ‘The None of One’ which experiments with electronica and classic rock codes and conventions producing a hybrid of 8:19, conveying the potential of ‘The Phantom Band’.

The album continue in this fashion of unique experimental indie, producing each track to be similar to one another but  completely different, which rises in impact as the album progresses then eventually retuning to the beginning equilibrium as the album comes to an end, which is mainly detectable by track eight ‘Into the Corn’. Which gives into the overhanging classic rock elements which foreshadow the earlier tracks of the album, although luckily without losing any of ‘The Phantom Band’ unique edge and their experimental factor. The final track of the nine track album, ‘Goodnight Arrow’ is the perfect soft ending, similar to the opening track ‘A Glamour’ but very detectable as an ending track.

‘The Wants’ is a brilliant album full of beauty and individuality, which is clearly expressed through the instrumentals and lyrics of each individual track on the album.

Author: Khadija Pandor