If your local record store ever opens up a section situated between "Folk" and "Rap/R&B" called "Sounds a lot like the Strokes," Phantom Planet will be one of the first albums that they stock.
Phantom Planet's new self-titled release is a competently assembled ball of teen angst, expressed on most songs with driving guitars and shouted lyrics. Unfortunately for the band, the music industry is nearly choking on bands who can pull this off; even more unfortunate is that so many of these bands are simply better musicians than Phantom Planet.
The band's two claims to fame are absent from the newest CD: Jason Schwartzman, famous for his role in Rushmore, is no longer the group's drummer. And perhaps more distressing is that the piano-driven melody of "California," the group's first hit and the theme for the television show "The OC," has been abandoned for uninspired guitar-rock, leaving Phantom Planet sounding like a pedestrian but technically proficient bar band.
Alex Greenwald's moaning lead vocals on songs like "By the Bed" and "Jabberjaw" sound like he is enduring the emotional pain that most often comes from a messy high school break-up. But any listener will have a hard time forgetting Julian Casablancas, the Strokes frontman who clearly is the inspiration for Greenwald's singing style.
The album's first single, "Big Brat," opens with synthesizers and gives way to a simple, loud guitar part and the chorus "You're always up to no good" that sounds like it was shouted by a couple of drunken rugby fans.
The album is fun to listen to, surely, but any fans of Jason Schwartzman, "The OC" or anything other than cookie-cutter rock will be disappointed.
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