Matthew Houck may operate out of the too-cool-for-school, New York City indie rock community, but the Alabama-born mastermind behind Phosphorescent has a muse that clearly resides in warmer climates. A breezy, classic rock-tinged collection of heartbreak road ballads nursed into existence on a steady diet of the Eagles and the Band, Here's to Taking It Easy, the first Phosphorescent release to rely on musicians other than Houck, plays like a lost piece of vinyl from the early '70s. Houck is a generous, earnest songsmith, and his tales of love on the rocks (“Tell Me Baby [Have You Had Enough]”), love lost (“Heaven, Sittin’ Down”), and love of the South (“It's Hard to Be Humble [When You're From Alabama]”) feel lived in and cared for. Even on autopilot (the slight “I Don’t Care If There’s Cursing” and the hippy-drippy “Hej, Me I’m Light”), his effortless, laid-back version of modern alt-country feels like an old friend, and the weepy, sun-drenched reverb that permeates the whole affair feels authentic rather than coerced out of a Pro Tools plug-in. The only downfall is that Here's to Taking It Easy is so easy to take that at only nine songs, it flies by in no time at all. ~ James Christopher Monger

Apr 2010

Just 20 seconds into the new Phosphorescent album, you hear something so immediate, so purposeful, so damn infectious, it's clear that something special is underway. The first album of original material since 2007's Pride captures the band moving into a truly extraordinary place. Here's to Taking It Easy is the culmination of the past three years: a grand statement, the album we dreamed Phosphorescent would make.

Pride was a deeply personal, haunting record that Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck recorded on his own, playing all of the instruments himself. 2009's To Willie (their tribute to Willie Nelson) featured Houck joined by his bandmates, rambling through the Nelson catalog with fifths of whiskey and undeniable swagger. So if Pride was built for 5AM and To Willie sounded just right as last call approached, where does Here's To Taking It Easy fit? This is the Phosphorescent record made for any time, any season.

Featuring the current live incarnation of Phosphorescent (Scott Stapleton, piano; Jeff Bailey, bass; Chris Marine, drums; Jesse Anderson Ainslie, guitar; Ricky Ray Jackson, pedal steel), Here's to Taking It Eas yis the new Cosmic American Music. Recorded in the band's hometown of Brooklyn with outside mixing assistance from Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power, Loretta Lynn, the Walkmen), this album breathes with life like nothing Phosphorescent has ever done before. 'We'll Be Here Soon' and 'Hej, Me I'm Light' hint at the narcotic haze of Pride, while anthems like 'The Mermaid Parade' and 'It's Hard to Be Humble (When You're From Alabama)' sound perfect pumped out of the car stereo with the windows rolled down. 'Heaven, Sittin' Down' recalls the country rock of To Willie, while the stark album closer, 'Los Angeles' sounds as if it was lifted from the grooves of Neil Young's On the Beach. Jam after jam, Here's to Taking It Easy brings everything together for Phosphorescent; a classic that could be from another era, but sounds perfect right here, right now.

• Mojo - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This is a record of broken communication and undone relationships....[The] songs skitter round your peripheral vision, hide in the back of your mind, their outlaw mental state playing hide-and-seek behind the classic rock curtains."
• Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Houck has a crack in his singing voice that gives it natural sensitivity....Houck's arrangements ensure the mood is rousing, uplifting, but also thoughtful."