Ten years and a handful of albums later, Phantom Planet, is making a strong comeback. But did they ever leave? Not really. Their new album, Raise the Dead, is definitely resurrecting old Phantom Planet fans. Raise the Dead is far from the Phantom Planet I remember listening to as a teenager. It’s more rock and less clean cut, with heavier guitars and bass lines and more howling from lead singer Alex Greenwald.
Phantom Planet’s The Guest, was good for a different reason. It is a lot slower and ‘cleaner,’ and by cleaner I mean everything kind of fit a little bubblegum pop formula within this facade of a rock band. Phantom Planet broke all the rules on this new one. I was reluctant to give Raise The Dead a good listen but the album’s first saving grace was “Demon Daughters”, which is as far away from Phantom Planet’s old sound as you can get and features one sweet bass line. There’s progression of energy which builds throughout the song, leaving the audience feeling fulfilled after its completion. Everything that comes after it is as equally amazing. There’s a lot of variety in this album and the songs all fit together nicely without sounding the same. Raise the Dead features some quick paced, toe-tapping, get up and dance songs such as “Dropped” to slower, more mature The Guest-like songs such as “Quarantine.” Standouts also include “Geronimo”, “Do the Panic” and “Leave Yourself for Somebody Else.”— Mai Huynh