New/Old Phantom Planet: "Do the Panic"

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

NEW! Phantom Planet Album + EP Details!

...Yep, Phantom Planet one of my favorite bands when I was younger (back when Jason Schwartzman still held the drumsticks), and I still think the guys make great music. They haven't released anything since 2004's sadly under-appreciated Phantom Planet though rumors of a release seem like they've been swirling around for forever or so. Today, however, on MySpace, the band announced its fourth album will be released in Spring 2008! (And posted that they'd spend less time on album number five). Whatever you do, don't judge the band based on the irritating popularity of the O.C.'s theme song, or by the band's tour dates with Maroon 5 (c'mon, they sucked the Hives in too).



So far, the only audio from the new album comes in the form of the following video of Sam and Darren laying down vocals for "Leader," which'll be on a 4-song EP coming out before the album's release. It sounds like it'll be pretty raw and rock-ish (yeah, I did just use that non-word), more like the band's latest stuff, though the band's never lost its gift for crafting pop melodies.

LISTEN:
"The Living Dead" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
Phantom Planet's website
Phantom Planet's MySpace

Margot At The Wedding Trailer

The trailer for Margot at the Wedding is available on the film's "Offical Site." I'm excited for this latest Noah Baumbach film (I recently fell in love with Kicking and Screaming. And if all that title invokes in you is anger and confusion directed at Will Ferrell, get thee to a video store -- the 1995 version is golden). Nicole Kidman bothers me a lot of times in films, but it looks like she's at least supposed to in this film. Jack Black? I think I can forgive him for The Holiday. Maybe (the more I remember of this film, the less likely that possibility seems). The thing that really got me though?

The trailer's got Phantom Planet's absolutely gorgeous cover of CSNY's "Our House" in it. So good I had to go and look it up before they even got to the part of the song I recognized when I was watching the trailer. They win again!

LISTEN:
"Our House (CSNY cover)" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
Phantom Planet's website

Album of the Week: Phantom Planet - S/T

This past week is probably the first time I gave Phantom Planet's 2004 self-titled album a thorough listen (plus the tons that followed), despite owning it since the day it was released. That's a shame. The album marks a fairly drastic sound in the band's sound, which up to that point had been fairly confectionary and harmless pop-rock, well-crafted though it was, which probably explains why I skipped over a ton of tracks when I first purchased it. From the album's opening track, "The Happy Ending," which sounds anything but happy, a raw and blistering tone and pace are set, and for once, it seems the guys in the band are worried about something other than that cute girl who doesn't notice them on the other side of their English class (as awesome as those songs were/still are). It's a pretty dark album. You'd never guess Alex Greenwald had all that angry gruffness in his voice, but he pulls it off well, definitely convincingly. One of the album's other stand-outs for me is "By The Bed," one of the best break-up songs I can think of (besides my #1 choice, Cat Power's "Good Woman"), which starts with bare vocals and a slow guitar rhythm and works into a frenzy of a chorus. Definitely a better progression than one would expect from the band, one they'll hopefully continue in their long-awaited, long-delayed follow-up.

LISTEN:
"The Happy Ending" [MP3]
"By The Bed" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
Phantom Planet's website
Phantom Planet's MySpace (+ new blog)

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