Phoenix... thrust into the spotlight

It was unintentionally comical watching Phoenix wow the crowd at Brixton (yes, twice in a few days) - they're a hapless, half willing/ half baffled victim of their own success. With the break-out runaway smash hit album Wolfgang Amadeous Phoenix, the audience came expecting Top40 pop magic, a show, some celebrity love. And Phoenix, bless 'em, did their best. Problem is, they're just not into big rawk songs. Their music is a rather archaic sort of 'groovy'. They like being 'cool', in all senses of the word. And more than anything, they're inescapably french. The french don't do punk, and there's no violence in their pop. They don't do heartfelt. Or earthy, or working class, or epic. French pop is ironic, understated, cool, or  else it's just blissfully, hilariously, genuinely cheesy.

And this, so goes my pot thesis, is why there's such a lack of great french international crossover bands. On the face of it Phoenix should be the french Coldplay - universally accessible, melodic rock-pop. But they're just too shy, I don't believe they could pull it off. Coldplay, for better or worse, have ambition - they want to play stadiums and do world conquering tours like their heroes U2. By contrast, Phoenix seemed a little overwhelmed by Brixton Academy, coming across a bit like a teenage band who's recently won a rock talent quest. Although now I think about it, if anything they're probably closest to the Magic Numbers.

Inarguably, they have some great songs - Wolfgang... is one of those albums where every track sounds like a top 10 single. Their set was most or all of the album, "1901", "Girlfiend", "Lasso" .. are just irresistable whoever you are. The very 80's "Too Young" is probably my favourite and came over creditably. The highlight was a properly bone-rattling deep, dramatic version of "Love is Like a Sunset" (parts 1 & 2). They're at their best when they're at their danciest, (whisper it, when they're closest to apparent cousins Air)... and when they let go of the rock structures and give rein to that innocent, magical, tune-making.

Franz Ferdinand... a new fab four take Brixton

A good band will grab a gig by the throat and take you on a trip through their world, to such an extent that you forget other music. It happened to me recently with Pearl Jam. Last year, James at Brixton for a brief moment seemed like the only band the world actually needed.

On Saturday Franz Ferdinand's energy, commitment, enthusiasm, musicality and technical execution more than lived up to my fairly high expectations. As you always hope, they are better live than on record. Where their recorded output has an easy, radio-friendly pop balance, live they push it heavier and faster; the sound is more full, louder, sexier.

Their oeuvre has the clear embarkation point of The Kinks, and now looking back I wonder if their career trajectory might not follow on similar lines to the likewise influenced Blur - one hopes they emulate Blur's history of exploration and periodic bouts of reinvention.

But elsewhere in the mix I found an even older rock 'n roll - FF can also do a remarkably authentic r'n'b boogie, evoking the more traditional end of 60's white boy blues from the Doors, Led Zep or Hendrix - simple, hell for leather, bluesrock holler-outs.

It doesn't end there though. They proceed to take in disco (well, of the Bowie - Bolan glam rock genus), and 80's art rock (a la Talking Heads, Roxy Music)... before an epic finale in (and for my money their best track to date) the suped-up, acid techno funk of 'Lucid Dreams'... which made me rush home and put on Orbital 2 (this being a very good thing, see).

As ever, the bass player is the tragically underrated star of the music if not the show, the bedrock that makes the rest of it possible. People, I can only assume, always think it's the drummer that provides the momentum in a rock band, but in fact drums are just the rhythmic highlight - the flashy accessories on the engine that is actually the bass. Make no mistake, it takes tremendous discipline, hard work, and precision to lay out a pulse which propels the band rather than drags it back. and when it's done well, when a tight band puts down a solid groove in any modern genre, it's exhilarating. Indeed I had a sudden vision of what it must have been like experiencing the Beatles, or Elvis, or later say, the Clash or Madness... when the kids got so overexcited they'd riot.

In the context of the live show, the latest album Tonight is accomplished and accessible, a natural development from earlier work... but perhaps the limit of their current soundscape.

The only slight criticism, if i had to make one, - their visuals didn't quite live up to the imagined potential. on the other hand the gig was an absolute bargain at £23.50, coming as it did with the unexpected pop-tastic delight that was Music Go Music, and the uncannily spot-on dj'ing over two sets from Rob Da Bank.

La Roux... woooooooo-oooooooo-ooooooooo...

Oh dear. Boys. Girls. Holding hands. Growing pains. Kissing.... I'm a grown-up, what on earth am I doing listening to this teenage fluff.

Still, you'll not hear a more lethally addictive pop song than "In for the Kill" in many a year. Comes complete with wooo bits and a cracking beat. Much of the album seems lifted wholesale from old Prince tracks - the same infectious programmed beats, the same cheesy synths. Still, if one was plagiarising pop songs there's probably few better sources. And oh crikey does Eleanor Jackon have one solid gold fantastic voice.

Equally brilliant is follow up single "I'm Not Your Toy", with it's sexually-clumsy, teenage, attempted cool ("...this isn't another 'girl meets boy'..."). And the tiniest, most childish Casio-tone wooziness imaginable.

The guiltiest pleasure is the uber-80's-ophile "Cover My Eyes", complete with big 'choir' backing no less, ... Cyndi Lauper would be most proud. This is followed by the girlie-Kylie wisp of candyfloss that is "As if By Magic". Inevitably it doesn't quite hold it's own for the whole album. "Quicksand", "Bulletproof"... are simply formulaic fillers. Similarly to the Ting Tings they seem to have had one great idea, in this case the Prince affected synth+drum thing, and stretched it as far as it would go. And similarly to the Tings they've done an intelligent job that bodes well for future output and development.

It's music made for playing on mobile phone speakers. On buses... by The Kids. I'm far too old for this, surely, but I've been singing it all in the shower for 2 weeks. To my surprise and delight, it's stayed with me, and I love it to pieces.

Pearl Jam... something sweeter, but strong as ever

It would seem obvious, but new album Backspacer showcases the sound of modern rock's finest sextet easing gracefully into middle age. Gradually, they're losing the dark, heavy edge to the sound, focussing more on the songs and writing and less on mood and power (... a string section? ... horns? ... backing vocals?... is this really our Pearl Jam?). Gossard's guitar often uses a shimmering chorus effect to sound brighter and lighter, Vedder's vocals are high in the mix and strong. The production is clean and wide. One is tempted to expect an outbreak of haircuts. The main surprise is the length, an almost rudely abrupt 45minutes, which, now I write that suggests some relatively tight, no-nonsense editing of arrangments.

Throughout there's nothing in particular we haven't heard before, but then, why should they change it? The album displays the breadth of Pearl Jam's musical wellsprings - from turbo-charged honky-tonk stompers "Gonna See My Friend" and "Supersonic", through driving groove-rock, to the soulful ballads we love just as much.

"Got Some" is taught and pounding, perhaps the most old-school piece included. Headline single - "The Fixer" - on the other hand is pure pop, Dave Grohl-style, complete with crowd friendly singalong "Yeah yeah yeah.." chorus - don't let anyone tell you this is new either, they've never strayed too far from a decent hook. The Vedder-led accoustic "Just Breathe", with a slight country skip to it, hints that perhaps his voice (an alto?) is not merely as strong as ever, but is actually improving with time.

For the second half, "Amongst the Waves", "Unknown Thought", "Speed of Sound" and "Force of Nature" are boilerplated Pearl Jam classics, riding on solid grooves laid by the Cameron-Ament-Gossard axis, Vedder and McCready trading lines.

Closer "The End" again slows the pulse, centred on Vedder's vocals with accoustic and strings as backing, it's almost a lullaby. You just hope they'll never stop.