Electro-pop duo Phantogram has a recent single called “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore.” Think of it as a “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” for the 21st century. Kanye West would probably approve of the deep-cut gospel sample from Voices of Conquest on the song “Same Old Blues,” also off the new record.
The pair, who live in upstate New York, have a real knack for making provocative loops out of string quartets, drum grooves or vocal groups and then embedding the snippets into their songs without having the mosaic take away attention from their vocals and hooks. This is dark, sexy, pulsing music. It’s not hard to hear the influence of dreamier bands like the Cocteau Twins in Phantogram’s music, but that aesthetic of hypnotic washes gets muddied and scratched, given a touch of hip-hop, with bottom-heavy synths and more jump-cut beats.
Phantogram with Tycho perform at College Street Music Hall, 238 College St., New Haven, Tuesday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 to $32, collegestreetmusichall.com.
