Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus

Rating:

* * *

If music could send an aural death stare,

Wolfgang Amadeus

would strike you dead on the dance floor.

The fifth studio album by French indie rockers Phoenix, the record begs you to dance with its sweet, poppy beats and keyboard trills.

But just as you've got a feel for the rhythm and begun tapping your toes, the band quickly admonish you for doing so with the two-part, seven-minute instrumental

Love Like a Sunset

.

One suspects they might refer to the album as art rather than music. You can look but don't touch. Listen but don't dance.

After all, the opening track

Lisztomania

is named after the 19th century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. How terribly clever, non?

Actually, their music is quite clever. It moves from deliciously catchy pop melodies (

Lisztomania

) to psychedelic spin outs (

Countdown

). Disco gets a look in (

Fences

), alongside more traditional indie beats and Thomas Mars' sharp, chirruping vocals.

Despite a cult-like following, in part from a bizarre plug by Bill Murray's character in

Lost in Translation

, Phoenix have never found mainstream favour. Most people don't take kindly to being looked down upon, which is what this record - and the band in general - seem to do.

Scenesters are sure to love this much-hyped album but others will struggle to see what the fuss is all about.

Joanna Hunkin