Ears Wide Open: PHASES

Kevin Bronson on May 15th, 2015

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JJAMZ are back, minus a J, and with a new all-caps moniker, PHASES. And as passing fancies go, the L.A. quartet have now entered the currently commercially thriving dance-pop phase, having unveiled three lightweight wafers of sleek synths and tuned-up vocals. The band harnesses the talents of four musicians well-known on the L.A. scene — Z Berg (the Like), Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley/Bright Eyes), Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet) and songwriter Michael Runion. “We wanted the songs to be fun, danceable and engaging,” Greenwald says, and the video for the single “I’m in Love With My Life” certainly makes a case for the danceable part. It’s the directorial debut of Ethan Tobman, who has a resumé as a top production designer for film, TV, commercials and music videos (the latter including Beyoncé, OK Go, Madonna, Eminem and Pharrell Williams). Anybody who likes OK Go videos will have some fun here. And anybody who’s updating 1980s coming-of-age films might have a soundtrack too.

||| Stream: “Cooler,” “Betty Blue” and “I’m in Love With My Life”