Phosphorescent – It's Hard To Be Humble (When You're From Alabama)
Phosphorescent – The Mermaid Parade
My excuse for overlooking Phosphorescent's Here's To Taking It Easy sounds very similar to my reasons for overlooking Gayngs. I was never really a fan of Pride (double gasp!) and was inexplicably close-minded to listening to this one. Once again, I'm an idiot.
Phosphorescent is the band that centers around songwriter Matthew Houck. My introduction to the band was through Pride in 2007. Despite the accolades surrounding it, I just never took a liking to the hazy, free-flowing psychedelic sound Houck crafted. I kept hearing about the (almost) total left turn of Here's To Taking It Easy and all the Neil Young references and still managed to avoid picking the album up.
I finally got it last week. And man, it's good. The Neil Young references are spot-on if you're talking about the slower, more introspective end of his repetoire. That's not to say there are no foot stompers and up-tempo tracks. It's a solid album through and through and if you missed it this year, pick it up now!