The Panda Band's The Vital Chapter
i couldn't have been older than ten years old when my cousin, a mere twenty months older than i, signed up for a travel program (People to People?) to go visit Australia. astonishing, i had thought. Australia is at least on the other side of the universe. it's at least 47 hours away by plane. it's at least near the center of the earth. and Aussies! their accent! why, they're all from take-a-left-at MARS!

sometimes, when i listen to The Panda Band, i am ten years old again. (ah, to be always freshly-turned two digits.) while they should sound no different than your garden variety indie rock, Beatles influences galore, wonderfully clever integration of electronic sounds and keyboard/synth play - this group of Aussies is bringing something so pure, so refreshing, so clean and admirably pleasurable that i must be so young again. i hear hooky opening notes, my foot starts tapping, layers of incredibly thoughtful and complex pop elements, and then the vocals chime in and i am flopping about like a Peanuts character, oh play more Linus! uh, i mean George Harri -- er, Beatles cover band? wait no. Neil Finn? Badly Drawn Boy? Lips? jello? they must be from another galaxy. i do not understand. no comprendo. it matters not at all, because i love everything i hear. they have the potential to be the biggest indie rock group that we've seen from Australia in quite a long time. because we haven't had anything from Australia in quite a long time. space rays and satellites, i'm telling you.

get a load of these guys! (they're blue, after all. Australians are blue.)

::::please don't let their indie pop rock potential pass you by:
The Panda Band - Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town - rec'mended. delightful unnecessary apostrophes.
The Panda Band - Spanish Band - take the forty seconds or so to get to the guitar work. quite good, i think.
The Panda Band - Musical Chairs - get. this. one. pop masterpiece! yes, i mean it.

go run to the hype machine and they will get you the single, Eyelashes, which everyone else has. we're just not everyone else. sniff.

by the way, Panda Band can be shortened to PB, and i really love peanut butter.
(i am so ten years old again.)  shan  5:42 AM  |  view comments (1)