This French quartet artfully reproduces the super-slick sound of mid-70s Californian pop-rock. Based in the Paris suburbs, Thomas Mars (vocals), Deck D'Arcy (bass), and Christian Mazzalai (guitar) first began playing together in the early 90s. They were joined in 1995 by Laurent "Branco" Brancowitz (guitar), who had collaborated with Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo and Thomas Bangalter in the short-lived Darling. While Brancowitz joined the fledgling Phoenix, de Homem Christo and Bangalter went on to form Daft Punk. The newly named Phoenix pressed a limited edition run of their 1997 debut single, "Party Time", on their own Ghettoblaster label. Shortly afterwards the band signed a recording contract with the Paris-based Source Records label. The quartet backed labelmates Air on several UK television dates, and contributed the disco track "Heatwave' to 1999"s Source Material compilation. The following year's United eschewed the hip Parisian house sound of their contemporaries in favour of delightfully crafted and affectionate pastiches of a much-maligned sound.
