Our brilliant guest blogger, Britt Lundborg, attended Saturday evening’s gig and offers a full report! All week long, weather reports proclaimed that the blizzard of 2009 would stall the entire Eastern Seaboard under a mountain of snow. Icily hip girl-boy group Phantogram paid little heed to this fear-mongering and played a hot six song set at Brooklyn Bowl last night. Keyboardist Sarah Barthel & guitarist Joshua Carter share vocal duties on their spaced-out electro-pop. His delivery tends towards a laconic growl while hers is an icy soprano a la Tracey Thorn. Not a little electronic ink has been shed comparing Phantogram to The XX, another haunting girl-boy electro-rock group. The two bands happen to have shared a stage at this year’s CMJ Festival and The XX may have emerged as “buzz-triumphant” but Phantogram is a highly seductive little group in its own right. If comparison must be made, Phantogram shakes out more like a female-fronted Big Pink and last night’s show shook with heavy beats, looped vocals and sex appeal. Seriously, there is a lot of hotness to look at even though only two people stand on stage. My one gripe isn’t with the band, it’s with Brooklyn Bowl’s sound team. Not only was Carter’s guitar too quiet during the set but he couldn’t hear himself on his monitor speaker. He motioned multiple times to no avail. Even still, when Phantogram played their best known track, “Mouthful Of Diamonds”, the hipster crowd swooned hard even as it manically danced. I’ll get high on their supply any time.
View more photos & download a Phantogram tune AFTER THE JUMP…
