Phantom Planet – “Balisong”

Travis Schneider

Phantom Planet – “Balisong”

Travis Schneider

California, here we comeback! “Balisong,” the first Phantom Planet song in 11 years, is out today.

Remember Phantom Planet? Their claims to fame include “California,” which became the theme song from The O.C., and at one point employing Jason Schwartzman as their drummer. He hasn’t been in the band since the recording sessions for 2004’s underrated, garage-rocking self-titled album. And Phantom Planet haven’t released anything since 2008’s Raise The Dead, which saw them working with video directors like Spike Jonze and Eric Wareheim.

Now Alex Greenwald and the band are back together and hard at work on their fifth album. Greenwald tells Billboard they’re “50 to 75″ percent finished and are working at their own pace with no deadlines for the first time. They played a surprise reunion show back in January, but and three more “secret SoCal shows” are scheduled for May.

Today’s single, “Balisong,” is supposedly inspired by Greenwald’s obsession with a butterfly knife. His quote: “It’s something that is really easily concealed but with the right know-how can be easily pulled out and is sharp as hell. I just went down the rabbit hole with that and the band loved the song and it was one of the first ones we did.” Originally it was a Greenwald solo track.

Hear “Balisong” below.

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