Music Review of Raise the Dead by Phantom Planet

“Phantom Planet” are a four-piece indie/alternative rock band from from Los Angeles, California. There are currently four members in Phantom Planet, they are Alexander Greenwald (Vocal and Guitar), Darren Robinson (Guitar and Backing Vocal), Sam Farrar (Bass and Backing Vocal) and Jeff Conrad (Drums). Former members Jacques Brautbar left to pursue his interest in Photography while Jason Schwartzman decided to pursue his acting career. The band is widely known for their hit single, “California” which became popular for the TV series, The O.C.

Raise The Dead has an album title that kills. One would think that it’s a heavy or black metal album just by looking at the album title. Until you press the “Play” button, you would never know. Phantom Planet has really evolved and gotten stronger than before.

Raise The Dead crunches us with the epic title track, “Raise The Dead”. A track that is so delicious that it will gobble you down when Alex explodes in the chorus. The title of this song itself raise our eyebrows and making us wondering what would it mean. Raise The Dead is definitely an enjoyable song for the unseen… Phantom Planet made this song an instant click that anyone would find it impossible not to like it. And i seldom see Alex yells so powerfully. Enjoy!

“Dropped” is simply amazing! Phantom Planet show their stuffs with the guitars and teamwork as well. In the verse, you can find Phantom Planet singing as a team and during the chorus is even better, they go, “Drop.. Whatcha.. Got.. Now.. Drop.. Whatcha.. Got.. Now..” It’s like they’re having a group of people backing up their vocals. The guitar is really deadly too, they have the tempo-building parts, and the exploding parts. Words aside, you’d definitely like Dropped, or better you’d be all over Phantom Planet.

“Leader” features a group of children helping Phantom Planet out. They’re having a good time together. From start to finish, the backing vocals provided by the children are really something to be remembered. They hit a new high when they joined Alex in the chorus, “Join our hands and come along, the day’s about to dawn, i feel it coming, on and on the hour’s upon you, now it won’t be long, i feel it coming…” Honestly i don’t think the vocals fit in quite well with the music in Leader, but Phantom Planet made it a song to be remembered. It’s simply magic!

“Do The Panic” is definitely one of the best tracks on Raise The Dead. It’s also a song from Phantom Planet’s fan club CD called “Phantom Planet: Negatives”. They did a more than fine re-work version of Do The Panic, and the result is simply infectious. It’s like having a craving for something. So listeners, beware! Their guitar riffs contain some really catchy and unforgettable hooks. Phantom Planet would go, “Ba, ba, ba…Sha du bi du…Ba, ba, ba… Sha du…”. It’s an invitation for you to sing along as well, and when the chorus comes, just loosen up and be panic.

Phantom Planet slowed it down a bit with “Quarantine”. Reminds me of the movie which starred Jennifer Carpenter. After following the lyrics, i can only guess that Quarantine is trying to tell the story of a man who was trying to save his loved one from some sort of contagious diseases. Hence the lyrics, “And it was you I did this for, i put the deadbolt on the door, understand i can’t see you now, realize it’s not to keep me in, but to keep all the sickies out…” A lovely and somewhat touching ballad by Phantom Planet nonetheless.

“Ship Lost At Sea” is cute, funny and good. At the beginning, it already creates the atmosphere of being lost at sea with the sound of ships sailing at sea. It also has some cute sound to it, which i find quite hilarious. If i’m not mistaken, there were some electronic elements in Ship Lost At Sea, making it more tantalizing. Ship Lost At Sea is really a good track with some friendly choruses and smart lyrics if you pay attention to Phantom Planet’s singing lips.

“Demon Daughters” has some dark elements to it. It tells the story about demon daughters with some great music and vocals along it. Often than not, Alex yells and explodes in the chorus, and switches to a lower tone when telling the story in the verse. I’m really fond of the bass line of Demon Daughters. The dark elements aside, Phantom Planet still manage to belt out a really great track that showcases Alex’s versatile voice.

“Geronimo” is explosive from start to finish, kind of resurrecting some elements from their previous self-titled album. Throughout Geronimo, Alex’s voice is somewhat drown out by the loud banging music. Don’t get me wrong, even with that, Geronimo still make a good listen. Showing how versatile and talented Phantom Planet can be. It feels great to listen to Geronimo, especially when you’re too sleepy or bored and really need a boost to get you right up.

Phantom Planet bring back their friendly guitar hook with “Too Much, Too Often”. It’s a cheerful track with some really good music along side with the vocals of Alex. 3/4 of the time, Phantom Planet were trying to create a memorable moment on Too Much, Too Often. They finally did it near the ending part where the remaining 45 seconds store some really great combination of music and vocals. I just like it.

“Confess” started with a short bang and followed by some lullaby-like music and vocals. Confess is a mid-tempo track with some really smart musical arrangement. There are some ups and downs in this track, meaning some soft and loud elements. The chorus is really a good listen for your ears, where Alex goes, “Your number’s up, it’s by request, do you have something to confess? I’m out of touch, you’re out of breath, do you have something to confess?…” It’s just too good. In between, pay attention to the viola that comes on and off to help furnish Confess. Just love Phantom Planet on this!

“Leave Yourself for Somebody Else” is another track that resembles Too Much, Too Often. A cheerful and sun-shine pop/rock track. The best deal in this track is the repetition of “Leave yourself for somebody else…”, where the rest of Phantom Planet join Alex and make this track so much fun. A great team effort shown here!

Raise The Dead chooses to end with heart-broken “I Don’t Mind”. It’s a ballad where Alex almost sing as if he has no strength left in him, or perhaps he’s trying to tell us that he’s really sad and down when singing I Don’t Mind. “But I don’t mind … Just stay close by, like all the time, because either I’d bleed dry, or keep this thorn in my side, but I don’t mind…” The music plays a big part as well in making this song sounds so down, especially the viola (If i’m not mistaken). There is also a hidden instrumental in I Don’t Mind, where it filled the remaining 1 minute. From what i heard, it might have been produced by some flutes or synthesizers. Phantom Planet is ending Raise The Dead unwillingly i guess.

Rating: Raise The Dead is really enjoyable from start to finish. From their early days until now, Phantom Planet grew and evolved with every album. Raise The Dead proves to be by far the best album to date. It’s such a shame to see Phantom Planet signed by Fueled By Ramen as i don’t want to see them eventually and slowly become an emo band. I really hope they won’t become one, instead i just want them to continue write, compose and play good music. Most tracks on Raise The Dead are unbelievably catchy and possess some “instant-click” quality. And i found my favorites even at the first time of listen. Clever guitar riffs with great beat and rhythm, who wouldn’t like Raise The Dead. I would rate it 7.8 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Raise The Dead, Dropped, Leader, Do The Panic, Ship Lost At Sea, Demon Daughters, Too Much Too Often and Confess.

Cheers!

Darren Tan

Indiesurf.com