Planet Anthem (Deluxe Edition)

Album Review

Jam-trance-fusion band the Disco Biscuits have an opera about hot air balloons in their repertoire, plus their fans love discussing whether that version of “Morph Dusseldorf” they played last night was either “inverted” or “dyslexic.” Clever experimentation had always been their thing, at least up to this smart but not nearly as outlandish album, which puts songwriting first while embracing both indie rock and the more melodic side of ‘70s prog. Retaining their love of both the futuristic and the funky means Planet Anthem is a wild mix of space-disco man Meco, prog guru Alan Parsons, alternative heroes Radiohead, and indie punk-funksters LCD Soundsystem accented by a bit of that eccentricity found in Gabriel-era Genesis. The new attitude is reflected in the opening track’s “Loose change/The kind that feels so strange/You know I wanna take it over,” a statement of intent that frees the band to mess about in Black Eyed Peas territory with the feel-good and Auto-Tuned party number “On Time.” The rest of the album works just fine and spikes right around the one-two punch of the furious synth rocker “Sweatbox” and the alt-hip-hop inspired “The City.” Old-school residents of Camp Bisco might miss the muso-stance and all the knottiness, but the direct and determined Planet Anthem is bound to pile just as many onto the bandwagon as it shakes off.