The Panics
Perth, Western Australia, Australia | MAJOR
Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
ALBUMS
* A House on a Street in a Town I'm From - LittleBIGMAN Records (August, 2003)
* Sleeps Like a Curse - LittleBIGMAN Records (August, 2005)
* Cruel Guards - Dew Process (13 October 2007). Sales in Australia: 45K+
SINGLES
*"Kid You're A Dreamer" - LittleBIGMAN Records (February, 2003)
* "Don't Fight It" - Dew Process (2007)
#10 in Triple J Hottest 100, 2007
Photos
Bio
To the untrained ear, The Panics arrive shrouded in mystery: The sound of an unknown band playing a backroom bar in a nowhere street, somewhere in the middle of a nowhere, outpost town. Creaking floorboards, dusty tables, strong whisky. In the background an ancient jukebox plays cuts from Ennio Morricone, Bob Dylan, Echo And The Bunnymen. The clocks have long stopped. The calendars pulled from the walls. Its quite the eerie vibe.
In this timeless, romantic environment, however, The Panics sit quite perfectly. Trading in sun kissed acoustic guitars, widescreen string arrangements and shuffling drums, the Australian five piece guitarist and songwriter in chief, Jae Laffer, brothers Drew (guitarist) and Myles Wooton (drummer), Paul Otway on bass and multi instrumentalist, Jules Douglas have drawn notable admirers in both Australia and the UK over seven years and three albums.
In 2007, Laffer was asked to support Noel Gallagher on the Australian leg of his UK tour. However, the band's journey had begun when they were first spotted playing a hotel gig by Happy Mondays. "The Mondays had been playing The Big Day Out festival in Perth ," says Laffer. "Gaz, along with Shaun Ryders cousin, Pete Carroll saw us play and Pete became our manager. We later signed to Little Big Man Records which was owned by Pete and Mondays drummer Gaz Whelan. It was great to get hooked up with them because were big fans of The Mondays, but when we first met up with Shaun he just nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He later asked us to join him on a radio show he was presenting on BBC6 he interviewed us there. It was pretty weird really."
The Panics seem intrinsically rooted to the northwest of England . Rifle through their music collection and youll find albums by The Las, Echo And The Bunnymen, Stone Roses and The Smiths. Erstwhile Factory owner, the late Tony Wilson was a confirmed fan having spotted them at the In The City festival. Meanwhile, the bands name even comes from The Smiths song of the same title.
"We were raised in the hills above one of the most isolated cities in the world ," says Laffer. "Its quite an isolated place so we werent exposed to any local music scenes apart from one of our favourite ever bands, The Triffids. But wed hear about bands like Ride or The Stone Roses and we would then go out and discover them for ourselves. When I did those shows with Noel it was great to talk about all the music he was into."
It was this love of music that first drew The Panics together when friends Laffer and Drew Wooton began recording together at high school in Kalamunda, a suburb on the outskirts of Perth . "We were 14," says Wooton. "We heard Nirvana and it made us want to pick up guitars. We just began hanging out together, recording and writing with Myles who is a bit younger than me."
The band, now expanded to a five piece began playing gigs: local pubs, school halls, biker bars. "I was 13 when I did my first show," laughs Myles. "It was a famous old biker bar called Raffles. As we were walking onstage, the strippers were walking off. Wed end up driving for miles to play shows in pubs where nobody wanted to see us. Wed been exposed to rocknroll from an early age though: our dad played in a band called The Valentines, which was Bon Scotts band before AC/DC. For a while, Bon Scott was our postie, which is a weird claim to fame."
Anonymity was short lived. With The Panics aligned to Little Bigman Records, they released their first album, A House On A Street In A Town Where Im From. National radio support drew a large fanbase to the band, as did Laffers vivid, heart bruised lyricism, which was later compared to the likes of Bob Dylan and Morrissey.
"All I ever tried to do was to make each song different," says Laffer. "I didnt want to become the guy who got stuck in a rut. I always focused on different subject matter. I always thought it was a waste of space when you got the end of a song and the band hasnt touched on any particular subject. So all Ive ever done in my songs is paint a scene and throw some characters in it, so the listener can visualise something."
By the time of their second album, Sleeps Like A Curse, The Panics had become a mainstream concern the band were nominated for a J Award (the equivalent of a Mercury Prize). Third record, Cruel Guards due for release in the UK this April - pushed the band even further. Having scooped the 2007 J Award and ARIA Award (Australian Recording Industry Award the equivalent of a Brit Award), The Panics featured on hit TV show Ugly Betty with the track, Dont Fight It.
Its easy to see why the band have attracted such widespread acclaim. With their heaving, sweeping string arrangements, The Panics have recorded an album that brims with effervescent pop tunes and epic harmonies, drawing comparisons Echo And The Bunnymen, Bob Dylan and fellow Perth singer songwriter and friend, Luke Steele of The Slee
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