To The Maxx

i was still in college when Phantom Planet put out their last record (their third full length, which was self-titled). it was my junior year. i lived in a tiny room in a shitty house on a corner. i liked to play music really loud that year (as has been the case most years). i have fond memories of blasting that Phantom Planet album in that little room. jumping on the bed, playing guitar along to it. sonically, it was a super crunchy album; brittle, even. the band was saying… “watch out. we blow speakers.” in my mind, it was a total 180 from their previously jangly material; an evolutionary step forward and a step away from their association with a certain show on a certain channel formerly known at The W.B EDIT: the O.C. was, in fact, on FOX.

so here we are, nearly four years later and finally a new album on the horizon. why so long? they parted ways with Epic Records. frontman Alex Greenwald played in blackblack and sang/toured with Mark Ronson. they recently signed with a new label, the indie juggernaut known as Fueled By Ramen, went back into the studio and the results are being mixed now, in anticipation of a spring 2008 release. wikipedia tells me that “the new record is about singer Alex’s fictional experience with a cult.” awesome.

so… a four song EP of rough mixes materialized, only available at their shows. i hope that all of these songs will be on the record when it comes out. “Leader” has that instant-classic catchy singalong thing going for it. There’s “From This Day On,” a ballad with a dark vibe and some Radiohead-ish guitar parts. There’s a big change of pace with “Too Much Too Often” a driving dance tune with crazy dynamics: a spot of melodica here and a wild “drums in reverse” breakdown there. great stuff.

here, for your listening pleasure is “Geronimo,” a balls-out rocker that builds and builds and builds and totally conjures up the image of a shitload of people being compelled to jump off a cliff together. cults are creepy. EDIT: judging from the lyrics, the song seems to actually be about rough sex.

DOWNLOAD MP3: PHANTOM PLANET “GERONIMO” (yousendit link)

Phantom Planet myspace