#songoftheday / #amlistening = PHANTOM PLANET: “PARTY ANIMAL” (BAND PLAYING BOSTON ON 9/19/19)

Today Phantom Planet has unleashed a veritable “Party Animal” unto the world. The guys are celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary this year and if that’s not a reason to party then nothing is.

Earlier this year, the band reformed after being on hiatus since 2008. (They’d never officially broken up.) The guys — singer, rhythm guitarist, and chief songwriter Alex Greenwald, bassist Sam Farrar, guitarist Darren Robinson, and drummer Jeff Conrad (who replaced founding member Jason Schwartzman in 2004) — have spent the better part of this year in the studio with producer Tony Berg. “Party Animal” is just one piece of the sweet and delicious fruit that’s been yielded from the sessions.

Longtime fans of the band won’t be surprised that “Party Animal” comes with all the gusto of the Tazmanian Devil, which is to say that you’ll create quite the whirlwind dancing away to its jumpy chorus at your next bash. Seriously, we dare you to listen and not want to get up and bounce around. (Or maybe you’ll just spin yourself silly. )

On the origin of the earworm, Greenwald explains, “Once, I found myself walking on a deserted street in Brazil, dressed in a leopard print shirt and zebra striped pants. It was a hot day and I was sweating. A photographer for a fashion label was taking pictures of me. All of a sudden I heard words in my head – as if the sky had whispered them just to me – it said: ‘Remember you are part animal, part party animal,’ I couldn’t stop laughing. Maybe we should all remember we’re a little bit of both.”

The band will be performing new material, along with the classics, in New York on 9/18 and in Boston at The Sinclair on 9/19. They’re also confirmed to be opening for Maroon 5 in Las Vegas on 12/30 and 12/31.