Live: Thirty Days Ago

Live: Thirty Days Ago

Hall and Oates. Steely Dan. Asia. These are just some of the artists that no doubt eat up excessive gigabytes on Phoenix's iPods. Which is not only unusual for a French group that counts sophisticates like Sofia Coppola and Air among its associates but also a French group whose members are all well under the age of 60. On its first live album, the affliction comes into full light. Slick soul grooves and breezy choruses slither through the band's best songs like "Everything Is Everything" and "If I Ever Feel Better," while a version of "Too Young" - from the "Lost In Translation" soundtrack - sounds doubly invigorating. A bit looser than the quartet's studio recordings and peppered with rabid audience cheers, this is exactly the kind of disc that could lure unsuspecting people with taste down the path of mustaches and satin jackets. The scoundrels. <I>-- Aidin Vaziri</I>