The Panda Band
Perth, Western Australia, Australia | SELF
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Scrumptious airy, psychedelic rock from down under, today The Panda Band release their anticipated full-length debut, This Vital Chapter.
The Australian quintet have melded Sgt. Pepper with the Polyphonic Spree for an utterly refreshing 12 track delight sure to be a favorite in Wayne Coyne's iPod.
Favorite tracks include the progressive goodtime jam "Ghosts Have The Best Time," spunky key-driven "Spanish Bride," and "Eyelashes".
http://www.perfectporridge.com/2006/09/the_panda_band_this_vital_chap.html - Perfect Porridge
New Orleans might have been flooded over but the Panda Band ain't having none of that. Scattered throughout “This Vital Chapter” are bits and pieces of Louisiana jazz and New Orleans-esque rock ‘n’ roll with indie pop harmonies and alt. country portions with perfect doo wop melodies. The Magic Numbers joined forces with Frank Zappa and got Modest Mouse to bring the wine and cheese--this is psychedelic pop with a fancy feast of off-kilter instruments and beautiful sweeping melodies. And while it's feeling like a Broadway play more than a full-length album, “This Vital Chapter” is an adventure that shakes loose all stereotypes of indie pop with no real sudden moves to rebel against; simply speaking this is one damn fine album that any musician would be wildly proud to have been involved with. The Panda Band is one group that you never want to part with.
- J-Sin
http://smother.net/reviews/items/punk/866/The_Panda_Band-This_Vital_Chapter.php - Smother.net
The Panda Band
This Vital Chapter
2006
Filter
Elvis Costello sang about a "Black and White World" on his album, Get Happy!! This is nowhere more true than in Perth, Australia as the Panda Band has taken that city's indie music world by storm. This genre-blending fivesome marks its full-length debut with This Vital Chapter, an album so strange and melodic that it can tend to defy description. Of course, that would make it much easier for me to review, simply saying that there's nothing to say, but I'm far more inspired than that.
The second track, after the Clap Your Hands like circus barker opener, "High In Your Saddle," is like a fifties doo-wop song, cloaked in Sgt. Pepper's uniform, disguised in Wayne Coyne's beard and sleeping with Sleepy Jackson. That goes for the rest of the album also. "Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town," one of the songs that gained notoriety in Australia, being about their hometown and appearing on an earlier EP, begins with joyous and playful horns, a jaunty piano and skronky guitars. It's near impossible not to find yourself smiling while listening to the song. It's like Isaac Brock on mushrooms, as scary as that sounds.
Their hit single, "Eyelashes," is another psychedelic freak-out, catchy and infectious, borrowing as much from the Beach Boys as from the Beatles, not to mention more contemporary bands like the Super Furry Animals. "Musical Chairs" is an equally compelling song, definitely seeing the sunnier side of Modest Mouse. I guess they figure that a panda can take out a mouse any day of the week, so why not be happy about it?
"Ghosts Have the Best Time" is another highlight, sunny and toe-tapping. If you combined Queen and ELO and added a touch of the Unicorns, you'd come close to replicating this magical mix. "We've Got the Face of the Earth" features Katy Steele on vocals, the lead singer of fellow Perth band, Little Birdy, and the duet is wondrous. In "The Jaguar," vocalist Damain Crosbie references the '60s with his opening lines, "Kids, drop your pills for the night and load up on love till you're feeling alright. Who said you can't always get what you want?" Take that, stuffed shirts! The band sends their "thank yous" with their final song, "Signing Off (We're Almost Not Even There) Part 1," a nice little happy closing to a nice little happy album. And I'm not being sarcastic in the slightest.
This Vital Chapter carries the parenthetical name "We're Almost Not Even Here." Maybe this is due to the absence of Pandas down under. Pandas are native to China, with the awfully cute Red Panda (you know, the Firefox logo?) found in Nepal and India as well, but nowadays you can find a band of Pandas in Australia. The Panda Band is the best thing to come out of Perth since Luke Steele and Bon Scott. If the Pandas and Sleepy Jackson are to be interpreted correctly, it's as if it's still 1967 in Perth, the Beatles and the Beach Boys are still competing and inspiring each other, and as far as experimentation in music, anything goes. Who says music has to be all serious and deep? Relax, let your mind go, and have some fun with the Panda Band.
Similar Albums:
The Sleepy Jackson- Personality
The Flaming Lips- The Soft Bulletin
Modest Mouse- Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Terrance Terich
09.26.2006 - Treblezine.com
“The kind of rock and roll circus music the Beatles gave us in songs like 'I'm Fixing A Hole'. Throw in theatrical Scary Monsters era David Bowie, add quirky pre-True Colours Split Enz and some Sleepy Jackson and Flaming Lips. Then you have an idea what The Panda Band have on offer here. An avalanche of ideas, neatly packaged into songs. Memorable melodic hooks. Dark psychedelic lyrics. It's some of the most intelligent, original, unpredictable, bizarrely fascinating music I've heard in some time”.
Ed Nimmervoll - Music Australia Guide
“The Panda Band has really set the bar high with their album This Vital Chapter. It’s fun, powerful, expansive and easily lives up to expectations. I’ve been hearing a lot of people compare this album to Sgt Peppers and I’d have to agree. They go beyond what you’d expect from your average five piece, incorporating pianos, horns, a range of wind instruments and quite a bit more…an aptly named vital chapter in Australian music”. - Openyoureyestomusic.com
“The Panda Band attracted a lot of attention last year in the Australian music industry and was listed in Rolling Stone Magazine’s top ten bands of 2005 – now I know why. With a style that hints at The Beatles, Dylan and Bowie, The Panda Band appear very well equipped for international stardom, should it be just around the corner (lets just hope it is). They are a talented five-piece outfit well worth checking out.”
Paula Zammit - The Drum Media
“Damn, The Panda Band should be the presidents of the universe. Fun is such a no-no for so many bands. There is this idea that having fun negates credibility, that the only way to tap into truly remarkable territories of creativity is by experiencing or expressing pain. What a load of old bollocks. Fun is the zenith of human accomplishment. It’s miles past pain and darkness and whining and indecision. It’s as far as you can go. ‘Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town’ is whimsical, catchy-as-heck and thoroughly fun.”
- Tim Off Magazine (Queensland)
Discography
"Eyelashes" radio single (April 2004, on EP).
B Side "Mohawk" (not available for retail)
"Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town" radio single (Sept 2004, on EP)
"Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town" 6 Track EP (Feb 2005)
"Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town" included on Triple J Radio's Hottest 100 Compilation LP (April 2005)
"Then You Appear" radio single (Mar 2005, on EP)
"Then You Appear" on Evermore Australian Tour EP (June 2005)
"Then You Appear" on Triple J Radio Australian music LP "Home & Hosed" (Aug 2005)
"Alana" radio single (Sept 2005, on itunes)
"Ghosts Have The Best Time" radio single (April 2006, on LP)
"Ghosts Have The Best Time" 3 Track Digital Release (April 2006, itunes only)
"Musical Chairs" radio single (July 2006, on LP)
"This Vital Chapter" 12 Track LP (Aug 2006 - Aust/ Sept 2006 - North America)
Cover of "My Mistake" by Splitz Enz on Triple J Radio covers compilation LP "Like A Version - Vol. II"
"Where The River Rises" Nov 08 - The Lifted Brow magazine and BandCamp/iTunes Only.
"Furiious" Sept 09, BandCamp/iTunes Only.
Refer to www.myspace.com/thepandaband or www.thepandabandcom for updated streaming tracks
Photos
Bio
The Panda Band
The Panda Band could be best described as art-tech-indie-pop. Art: because of their crafty arrangements – tech: because they play with effects, keys and samples – indie: because by choosing to run their own label, they sit in the drivers seat, – and pop: because they are big on catchy, layered melodies and sing-a-long bits.
Since the success of debut single ‘Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town’ which made the Triple J Hottest 100 album (#73) and received rave reviews and extensive airplay, The Panda Band have been very hard at work. Aided by the mixing expertise of multiple ARIA award winning producer Magoo (Regurgitator, Operator Please, Midnight Oil) and mastered by Steve Fallone, Sterling Sounds NYC (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes), 2011 sees The Panda Band now armed with a new release slated for July and ready to resume their seat at the forefront of quality Australian artists.
You may have noticed their absence recently, The Panda Band, have been touring America, writing their new album and building their very own home studio to record their heavily anticipated new release.
The following year saw the Australian independent release of ‘This Vital Chapter (We’re Almost Not Even Here)’, polarized by Triple J as their Feature Album Of The Week, and rated 4 stars by both Who Magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald. Further released in North America through Filter Recordings, after performing at the 2005 SXSW music festival, the album received rave reviews across US online music sites and was playlisted on Nic Harcourt’s ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ show and several other KCRW programs. Breaking into the USA’s CMJ National Top 200 radio charts at #133 with radio airplay across the USA, the album also saw radio play across Europe with an addition on London’s infamous XFM.
The Panda band followed their US release with extensive touring across the US the very next year, taking five months out of their Australian touring schedule between tours with Gomez, Modest Mouse, Supergrass and The Big Day Out. Performing at CMJ (New York), Canadian Music Week and The Great Escape (Brighton, UK), The Panda Band eventually returned home to begin work on their newest offering.
Holding true to their DIY work ethic, The Panda Band continued to approach their recordings with the same independent commitment as their previous, but this time taking it that one step further, building their own home studio to record the new album. Resulting in a slightly longer break between releases, The Panda Band’s latest offering is more of a collective effort than ever before, with the band members sharing the writing process equally as well as taking on the production endeavors.
“ With a style that hints at The Beatles, Dylan and Bowie, The Panda Band appear very well equipped for international stardom, should it be just around the corner (lets just hope it is).” Paula Zammit (Drum Media)
The Panda Band is Damian Crosbie (vocals & guitar), David Namour (bass), Chris Callan (guitar, backing vocals & keyboards) and Scott Howard (drums, backing vocals); an outfit that have won multiple WAMI awards, an APRA professional development award.
With the album set for release in Australia on their own label Bam*Boo in July 2011, distributed by MGM, The Panda Band have are giving their fans an exclusive glimpse of the forthcoming record with a free giveaway of their track 'The Fix'.
Get your Fix of The Panda Bands new material as they tour across Australia through May & June
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