So, Phoenix was the featured band on this week's episode of Saturday Night Live. While this doesn't represent some kind of watershed moment for indie rock or French bands, the universe of French indiepop has EXPLODED. Video and our early review of the album below.

The performance, all things considered (especially TV On The Radio's disastrous sound-mix issues in their February spot on the show) is really, pretty great. Sofia Coppola's man and Phoenix lead singer (ha!) Thomas Mars is totally on-point, as is the rest of the band, which is one of the most well rehearsed, tight live acts you could ever catch in concert -- they could probably afford to loosen up, but sometimes, it's nice to watch a band fire on all cylinders. Their upcoming album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is (spoiler review) absolutely superior, probably the band's most epic effort to date -- the entire thing sounds like a wild night getting plastered in the 8th and probably, at some point, watching the sun come up. It's nearly a masterpiece, and the album's title isn't just bravado; it's making a pop-virtuoso claim they hit on the mark. Get it as soon as it comes out (May 23).

Finally, not that we would ever endorse the illegal downloading of anything, but it appears that the album might've leaked. A Google search for "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" and "Mediafire" turns up plenty of places to download the EP in its entirety. The band deserves every dollar that they get from this album; pesky bootleggers, you deserve none of the good times this thing will give you.