The Guest

by

Phantom Planet

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I have to admit, I am a 35 year old guy from NoCal who heard the song "California" on the movie "Orange County", and after singing it incessantly for 3 days I went out and bought the CD.

It is a solid college rock album. Reminds me of Ben Folds Five, Semisonic, the Connells etc. A little bit of everything thrown into the pot, stirred around with catchy lyrics, and upbeat music and it works. I really like this album.

"California" is the piano driven track that rocks. "Lonely Day" is about that mood we all can relate to, but smile about it all the while.

Personally, I think track#7 "turn, smile, shift, repeat" is the best song on the CD. You get the feeling that these are some competent musicians who have some talent and also can put a lot of feelings into song. Sometimes you just don't feel like talking, and "The Guest" speaks for us on days like that.

There is this youthful exuberance that pervades the entire project. Yes, we all get confused, angry and sad. But when you think about it, who doesn't?

2 thumbs up for a solid college band that actually rocks. Forget about P-Diddy remixes, Korn, and J-Lo. This is real music for "real" people. You owe it to yourself to check this out.

Phantom Planet's debut "The Guest" is a bright, enjoyably catchy powerpop album. While most of the music and lyrics are pretty unexceptional, their experiments and energy make this a pleasant listen. It won't rock your world, but it will make it bounce a little.

The popular single "California" is one of the weaker songs of this album, merely a simplistic yearning for... well, California. But the meat of "Guest" kicks off with bouncing love songs (the cute crush song "Always On My Mind") and panicked pleas ("In Our Darkest Hour," the desperate "All Over Again"). And the group veers into Radiohead territory with the somber, atmospheric "Turn Smile Shift Repeat," a surreal experiment that may be the best song in the album, along with the darkly enticing "Wishing Well."

Though the guys in Phantom Planet aren't adolescents anymore, there's a feeling of teenagerhood in this album. "All I can do is hope that she is thinking of me/If I could blink/if I could breathe/If I could get my legs to move..." sings Greenwald hopefully. Crushes, hopes to go to faraway oases of fun, trying to stay together with a girlfriend and "lonely lonely lonely lonely days" are sprinkled through the songs of "Guest."

Alex Greenwald has a nice versatile voice. It's clear and smooth; he can wail desperately like a man in a burning building, sing in monotone a la Thom Yorke, or just sing. The music is fairly typical, except when interrupted by faint electronica ("Turn Smile Shift Repeat," "Hey Now Girl") and the occasional dash of piano and sax. Lyrics are often quite typical (" If I get one ray of sunlight to hold in my hand/Maybe we can be happy again...") but occasionally they spring into well-written, evocative surreality.

The adolescent vigor of Phantom Planet is what makes it sparkle. While "Guest" has the roughness and simplicity of many debut albums, it's a pleasant collection that hints at greater scope in their future.