I was listening to NPR on my drive back to college sometime last week when the host announced they'd be playing a track from the forthcoming, as of yet untitled Phantom Planet album... I was expecting to hear "Leader," the only song I'd heard so far would be on the album, but instead, they played a new recording of an old Phantom Planet cut, "Do the Panic" (which had previously been released on the limited edition Negatives compilations of PP b-sides and rarities), which will apparently be appearing on the next one (we're still waiting on an exact release date, but it should be within the first half of the year).
If that song is any indication of what to expect from the new (fourth!) album, it's going to be a hell of a lot cheerier and more pop-oriented and fun than 2003's self-titled release (which, for the record, I think probably their best, so I don't mean that, urm, negatively at all). It'll be interesting to see if they chose any other older tracks and how they choose to re-work them. They've certainly got a lot of material to work with.
In any case, I'm glad they're back. This is one of the first bands I ever loved, and one of the few bands I listened to when I was growing up whose music still (mostly) holds up. And I admire them for their range, too: I have an equal appreciation for both their more-polished studio releases and their d-i-y recordings, and they pull off sunshiney retro pop from their earliest days as well as they pull off darker, gruffer stuff they wrote for their last album. And they always look like they're having fun.
LISTEN:
"Do the Panic" [MP3] (from Negatives)
ON THE WEB:
Phantom Planet's Fueled by Ramen page
Phantom Planet on MySpace
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