Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead

Fueled By Ramen 2008

6.5/10

Best Track: "Raise the Dead"

Worst Track: "Demon Daughters"

Phantom Planet is better known as “the band that sang the ‘O.C.’ theme song” than a group with legitimate talent. And while the song “California” has earned them multiple spots on teenage girls’ ringtone lists, Phantom Planet’s catalogue of Hives-like, raucous pop-rock is nothing to sneeze at, either. Unfortunately, their newest effort Raise the Dead doesn’t quite live up to their past works.

From the first second of the samely-named first track, Raise the Dead is an evident attempt at a large-scale musical evolution. At first, Phantom Planet succeed, rolling out a more mature, fresher version of their sound. For the first four tracks, Phantom Planet maintain their carefree, surf-like feel but add a once-missing, and welcome, robustness.

The fifth song is another story. “Quarantine” marks the point in Raise the Dead where Phantom Planet’s sound enters a nonsensical experimentation period. It sounds like Thom Yorke dropped by to lend some support, with guitar lines and vocal stylings that will remind many of a Radiohead song. The dismal “Demon Daughters” follows a similar mimicry of the Mars Volta. The song starts out like a normal Phantom Planet track, but goes terribly berserk around the halfway point. It’s as if the band were attempting to imitate a train derailment.

The first portion of Raise the Dead, along with a select few songs toward the end, is a wonderful listen. Unfortunately, the experimentation takes a wrong turn, which drags Raise the Dead down a couple of notches. Memo to Phantom Planet: less is more.

- Amanda Renko

Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead