Albums to watch

Strange Friend

The Phantom Band

Strange Friend

Third album from the Glasgow-based indie rock six-piece

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Chemikal Underground
UK Release date
02/06/2014
US Release date
22/07/2014
  1. 10.0 |   God Is In The TV

    In terms of songwriting, they’ve clearly reached a new level
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  2. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    At heart they’re a rock band who bring other distinct styles into the mix rather than anything truly groundbreaking or genre-melting, but when it’s done with such skill, such confidence and precision, it really doesn’t matter how it’s labeled
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  3. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Marks a measured step towards accessibility from one of Britain's most inventive bands. Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    A tight, concise and incredibly satisfying listen with the right mixture of familiarity and progression
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  5. 8.0 |   The List

    The Phantom Band are, at heart, a rock group in the most inventive sense – like The Beatles, Can, Pink Floyd – and the world they inhabit is strange and congenial and often beautiful
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  6. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    A record that has sound potential to soundtrack the summer ahead
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  7. 8.0 |   Clash

    Proves that the Phantoms’ Kraut-folk muddle is still as giddily rewarding, as Rick Anthony’s saturnine tones slither – like Jim Morrison on Buckfast – through unpredictable textural twists
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  8. 8.0 |   NME

    Perhaps singer Rick Anthony is the glue. His rich baritone is the kind of voice you'd lay down weapons to follow
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  9. 8.0 |   Mojo

    This is The Phantom Band in direct mode, and it suits them. Print edition only

  10. 8.0 |   All Music

    Strange Friend is the rare record that allows ample creativity, attitude, and experimentation to live together without becoming tiresome or excessive
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  11. 7.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Bustling with excitement and teaming with a million different ideas, eager to spill them all onto the canvas regardless of the mess it will make. But what a gloriously colourful mess to behold
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  12. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    The Phantom Band may have done better to be a bit more selective in the studio, but they were probably too busy enjoying themselves to bother
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  13. 7.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    When the musical density and melodic simplicity coalesce, as on the marvellous crash of ‘Doom Patrol’, the results are both charming and impressive
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  14. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    Maintains their practice of creating offbeat indie songs, but with the unexpected addition of eerie folk, spacey sci-fi synth ballads and electronic experimentation
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  15. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    The melodies flutter around the tonic note like Caledonian reels, but this is not folk music: there's too much new stuff happening
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  16. 6.0 |   Q

    At its best it's irresistible. Print edition only

  17. 6.0 |   DIY

    'Strange Friend' offers up a lot more material to like than there is to criticise, its rampant energy and bold sense of restlessness throughout a successful mirror of the band’s ambitious creativity
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  18. 6.0 |   The FT

    Songs drive along to a hypnotic krautrock beat
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The Phantom Band: Strange Friend

  • Download full album for just £7.49
  • 1. The Wind That Cried The World £0.99
  • 2. Clapshot £0.99
  • 3. Doom Patrol £0.99
  • 4. Atacama £0.99
  • 5. (Invisible) Friends £0.99
  • 6. Sweatbox £0.99
  • 7. No Shoes Blues £0.99
  • 8. Women Of Ghent £0.99
  • 9. Galápagos £0.99
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