Phantom Planet has come a long way since being known largely as the band Jason Schwartzman left so he could focusing on acting and/or the band with that one song for that one show about The O.C. Regardless of first impressions or first exposures, these four gentlemen have come a long way since those days.
Their original release was rather ho-hum southern California version of indie pop. Filled with acoustic guitars and wistful melodies Is Missing (iTunes) was a decent effort, but it wasn’t until their breakthrough sophomore effort, The Guest (iTunes) {which featured the smash hit California}, that they achieved the privilege of having a nationwide fanbase. Unfortunately for many of those fans Phantom Planet’s third album, their first to simply be called Phantom Planet (iTunes), was quite the drastic departure from their trademark breezy surfer style. Although it was critically heralded, and I might add I love it to this day, it went a long way toward alienating many of their fans and served to reinforce the image that they were just those guys with that one song on that one show about The O.C.
Phantom Planet released their fourth album, Raise The Dead (iTunes), this past Tuesday and I believe it is their most accomplished album to date. Proving once and for all that there really is a middle ground between the two extremes of their sound {as demonstrated on their previous two efforts} Raise The Dead is at times a rocker, and at times a slow acoustic romp around beach fires, sure to be enjoyed whether you’re chilling in the Midwest or enjoying an endless summer. From the opening title track to the excellent closing track Raise The Dead reads like a talent rap sheet for what these four West Coast buddies are ultimately capable. In brief, this is what indie Cali-pop is all about.
mp3 : Phantom Planet - Raise The Dead
mp3 : Phantom Planet - Do The Panic
For those of you interested in hearing more I’ll be putting another track of their’s up in this month’s BOTM post in a couple of weeks. It’ll be worth hearing more, trust me, the entire album is solid.
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Still sad to see that you don’t appreciate their first album which was amazing, but I must say everything I’ve heard from their newest album is great. I do think you were kind of late with this post though… I mean, come on, I would’ve expectd you to have posted something about them two weeks before their album came out…
Did a search for Phantom Planet on hype and wouldn’t you know it, there’s still about a trillion California posts… it’s like people don’t even know they have other songs… personally I think Wishing Well was a better song from the Guest. Anyway, I love this band… might go buy their album today cause I’m really enjoying the new tunes.
For like 2 split seconds before the music kicked in, I was hoping Do The Panic was going to be a cover of Scotty and the Help’s song… That would’ve been hilarious.
their new album is great from start to finish. it’s a solid effort {might be their best yet}