Phantom Planet (album)

Phantom Planet
Studio album by Phantom Planet
Released	January 6, 2004
Recorded	Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadga, NY
Genre	Alternative rock, garage rock revival
Length	35:32
Label	Epic
Producer	Dave Fridmann
Phantom Planet chronology
The Guest (2002) Phantom Planet (2004) Limited Edition Tour EP (2007)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone
Pitchfork Media	(7.3/10)
Spin Magazine	(6/10)

Phantom Planet is the third album by the rock band Phantom Planet, released on January 6, 2004. The album marked a startling change in the band's sound, shifting from radio-friendly pop rock to garage rock, comparable to the sound of The Strokes. Produced by Dave Fridmann (Weezer, MGMT). It is the first album to feature current drummer Jeff Conrad (ex-Big City Rock). It has been credited with earning the band's first significant fan base, as well as some minor commercial success.

During the recording of the album, drummer and co-founder Jason Schwartzman left the band to pursue his acting career.

The song "By the Bed" is about Alex's grandmother, and what she told him on her deathbed.

The song "Jabberjaw" deals with anger and frustration.

Alex Greenwald commented on this song in Nylon magazine:

“

There are references to this one girl- that's what "Jabberjaw" is about. She wouldn't stop complaining about how a guest spot on a TV show was going to ruin her and how she didn't want to turn out like me- credibility ruined by being in a Gap commercial. It infuriated me. And I drove home livid and wrote an angry song about it.

”

The music video for album's single, "Big Brat," had significant airplay beginning in December 2003. It cuts between scenes of an urban performance of the song to the band shooting a low budget zombie film in the relative location.

The actual zombie film being shot was used as an alternate music video for the song available to fans on the bands website

Recording and production

During the eighteen-month tour to support their second album, The Guest, Phantom Planet adopted an inspirational motto to keep them focused: "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." Nicked from a Daft Punk song title, the motto also helped shape the radically different sound on the band's upcoming self-titled third album, due January 6, which dispenses with the sunny vibes of The Guest in favor of a darker sound.

"For The Guest, we needed to make a happy, fun album that was universal in its concept and lyric," says singer Alex Greenwald. "We then decided that if we were not harder, better, faster and stronger with each show, we were not living up to our potential as a band. Out of that idea came these songs, which are literally harder, better and more concise."

The opening track, "The Happy Ending," is a feedback-drenched slice of desperation that sets up the new album's bleaker outlook. "Badd Business" blends ska rhythms and shouted choruses with a lyric about an unnamed ex-friend who Greenwald says swindled bass player Sam Farrar. "I vividly recall being in Norway on tour when we first played it at sound check and realizing it was a turning point in where our sound was going," Greenwald says. "It was more selfish and personal than the songs on the previous album. After that person ripped Sam off, we decided that this band is its own kingdom with a castle and a moat that is impervious to outside attacks. That song is the winding up of the drawbridge that was opened during The Guest."

Several other tracks were inspired by real-life heartbreak of varying degrees. The droning, My Bloody Valentine-like rocker "You're Not Welcome Here" is Greenwald's kiss-off to a former girlfriend. He wrote the gloomy pop tune "After Hours" just minutes after he was denied entry into a New York nightclub because of his outfit.

Greenwald had the dancehall bounce of Sean Paul's "Gimme the Light" blasted through the scuzzy downtown rock of A.R.E. Weapons in mind when he wrote the album's first single, "Big Brat." For the accompanying video—with the help of Tony Gardner, the makeup whiz behind Michael Jackson's Thriller video—Phantom Planet filmed their own horror clip with sixteen-millimeter cameras. The band also recruited director Spike Jonze, who shot additional footage that was edited into a "making of" segment.

The new album is Phantom Planet's first without drummer Jason Schwartzman, who announced midway through the sessions that he was leaving to pursue acting full time. "He finally made the adult decision between the two sides of him," Greenwald says of his friend, with whom he co-founded the group at age thirteen. "It was a little strange at first, but there's no bad blood. We're still best friends." Schwartzman, the star of the film Rushmore and the upcoming sitcom Cracking Up, can be heard on half the album's tracks, while the rest feature new drummer Jeff Conrad.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alex Greenwald, except "You're Not Welcome Here" composed by Greenwald and Jason Schwartzman. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Happy Endings"	3:20
2.	"Badd Business"	2:18
3.	"Big Brat"	3:21
4.	"1st Things 1st"	2:53
5.	"Making A Killing"	2:43
6.	"You're Not Welcome Here"	3:30
7.	"By the Bed"	3:41
8.	"Knowitall"	4:03
9.	"Jabberjaw"	3:16
10.	"After Hours"	2:46
11.	"The Meantime"	3:43
Total length:		35:32

Japanese Bonus Track
No.	Title	Length
12.	"The Living Dead" (originally appeared on Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse soundtrack)	3:26
13.	"Stiffs (Live)"	2:23

Personnel

Credits for Phantom Planet adapted from Discogs.

Musicians

Phantom Planet

• Alex Greenwald – lead vocals, guitar
• Sam Farrar – Bass guitar, Backing vocals
• Jacques Brautbar – Rhythm guitar
• Darren Robinson – Lead guitar
• Jason Schwartzman – Drums

Additional musicians

• Dean Keller – saxophone on "Big Brat" and "You're Not Welcome Here"
• Bill Racine – additional saxophone on "Big Brat"

Production

• Dave Fridmann – producer
• Rob Bronco – artwork
• Skullhead & Clark, Brandy Flower – artwork
• Mike Myerburg – photography