Nest egg (The Phoenix Foundation) (LP 4485 - 4489)

The Phoenix Foundation  Pegasus (CD, The Phoenix Foundation Records, 2005) ***  

The Phoenix Foundation   Happy Ending (CD, Flying Nun Records, 2007) *** 

The Phoenix Foundation    Buffalo (CD, EMI Records, 2010) ****

The Phoenix Foundation   Fandango (CD, Universal Music. 2013) ****  

The Phoenix Foundation   Give Up Your Dreams (CD, Memphis Industries Records, 2015) **** 

Genre: NZ Music, alt rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi, Slowboat Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Buffalo

Gear costume: All in an Afternoon (Pegasus), Bright Grey (Happy Ending)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: It was Samantha's love of the band that got me interested in the first place. She'd gone to Victoria University in Wellington and heard the band and played me some of their stuff. She was right! It was good!

Pegasus was their second album (I don't have Horse Power, their debut). It has a smattering of very pleasant-sounding acoustic guitar driven folk rock mixed in with heavier electric guitar alt rock sounds. 

The band at this stage was a six-piece combo: Warner Emery (bass); Will Ricketts (percussion); Richie Singleton (drums); Conrad Wedde (guitar), Samuel Flynn Scott (guitar, vocals, keyboards), and Lukasz Buda (guitar, vocals, keyboards). Along the way they have also enjoyed contributions from many other local musicians.

Third album, Happy Ending, was a turning point in that it expands on the foundation (sorry) of Pegasus. Overseas critics were also starting to pay attention and the album got good reviews in music magazines like Mojo (I was also paying attention).

The album starts strongly with Bright Grey (a single and a video by Taika Waititi) and then meanders along through similar territories as Pegasus but with an expanded musical palette.

Buffalo was a mostly excellent album, although the first half is better than the second half which tends to drift by a tad, apart from Orange & Mango that is. The title track and Orange & Mango are superb but there needed to more of those kinds of songs on the album for my money.

Fandango is a two CD album but it still feels like side one and two, meaning they pull off a double album without any bother. It allowed the band to try a variety of styles and to stretch out on some songs - for almost 18 minutes in the case of Friendly Society.

The final album on my list is Give Up Your Dreams. It's a return to the crisper alt pop of Buffalo in many ways, with some catchy tunes such as Jason. There's also more reliance on synth driven pop (like Flaming Lips) which takes a little bit of adjustment.

Where do they all belong? Apart from Horse Power, their debut, I've also yet to catch up on their last album Friend Ship (2020).