Vagina Panther
New York City, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
AN EVENING WITH VAGINA PANTHER
By Carly Lewis
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a girl (me) walks into a bar and says to four unsuspecting, slovenly strangers, "Hey, are you guys in Vagina Panther?" Two of the strangers scrunch up their offended faces like I just asked to ritual-sacrifice their moms, one of them snickers confusedly and the fourth, assuming that this is maybe code for "casual carnal encounter," politely instructs me to walk two blocks south and one block east and then stop at a warehouse with a red door. These directions are useless to me, as tonight I am not looking for a Craigslist orgy but in fact a four-piece Brooklyn band called Vagina Panther.
I head to a table at the back of the bar and wait to ask these psychopaths what's up with their moniker. I've already constructed a rowdy mental image of what Vagina Panther will look like, so when they arrive appearing hygienic and calm, I hardly notice them at all. They are kind and gracious people (with respectable day jobs, even) and it took approximately twenty minutes for anyone to make a dick joke. They'd been down the street at their rehearsal space (affectionately called The Fuck Box) preparing for their lone CMJ set — a slot at the Aqualamb Records Trash Bar showcase. It will be their first time playing together in nearly a month, but they are not nervous. Collectively they've played in at least a dozen bands, past and present, and they have a strict No Banter rule so that little time is wasted on small talk. That's right, the members of a band called Vagina Panther have a policy against wisecracks on stage — the joke begins and ends with their name.
Over the course of many pints (two of which end up as broken glass shards wedged inside the drummer's hand), Vagina Panther and I discuss a wide range of subjects including singer June Sung's dream to someday open a karaoke bar in Williamsburg, bassist Johnathan Swafford's adolescent part-time job at McDonald's (where he worked alongside his mom and brother), guitarist John McGill's recent honeymoon, and a bonus tangential Das Kapital shout-out after drummer Christian Rutledge tells us that his wife's grandmother was cremated and buried in a plastic Walmart bag. But first, the question that everyone including Billboard and The Village Voice has been asking: why the fuck did y'all call yourselves Vagina Panther?
"We were in grad school a couple years ago and we started jamming together," explains Swafford. "And we needed a name. And in two different conversations, one dude said 'vagina', and someone else said 'panther.' And we were like, that would be the best band name ever. And that's exactly how it happened. It wasn't a band then. It was a joke." This was roughly five years ago and well before Sung, Rutledge or McGill even joined the band. Everyone is more serious now. "We still do lots of humorous stuff," says Sung. "But there used to be a time when we really slathered it on. Now we have an actual interest in the stuff that we do. We decided to be more earnest about things. We can't just be jesters."
A shit-disturbing name like Vagina Panther causes a commotion and raises a healthy handful of questions. Is this a feminist statement? Is this sexist? Is this a joke? (No on all counts.) As the band becomes upwardly buzzed about, their name is the trait that's most often discussed, until one attends a Vagina Panther show and sees for herself that the whole thing's not a puerile gimmick or strategically salacious marketing move. "I'm always amazed when people actually have a problem with it," says Rutledge. "There is a social discussion to be had about the fact that people are so freaked out by the word 'vagina.' It's an anatomical term."
"The music was never a joke," says McGill. "At some point we realized that maybe we should rethink being so silly. We didn’t want to go overboard. We're not a comedy band." Despite conversations about whether to adopt a new name, Vagina Panther stuck.
At their Trash Bar show in Williamsburg, the band obeys the No Banter rule as they churn out a showcase slot's worth of songs, pausing only to remind attendees of the merch table and to request that the projector be turned off. ("The light was hitting me right in the retina," complains Sung.) Despite having just heard them explain their no-chatting-on-stage policy, I keep waiting for something obscene. Nothing happens. "We try to do everything Ramones style," says McGill. "It's best to bang out eight or nine songs and cut out the bullshit banter."
By not saying much to the crowd, many preconceived notions of Vagina Panther (that they're lewd, unserious, perverted, juvenile) linger a little as the audience awaits full-frontal nudity or a Gwar-style blood shower. People come expecting a raunchy spectacle, and what they get is an honest rock show. It takes a few songs to realize that they're not going to parachute into jokes about genitalia or scream out obscenities. Vagin - Vice Magazine
AN EVENING WITH VAGINA PANTHER
By Carly Lewis
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a girl (me) walks into a bar and says to four unsuspecting, slovenly strangers, "Hey, are you guys in Vagina Panther?" Two of the strangers scrunch up their offended faces like I just asked to ritual-sacrifice their moms, one of them snickers confusedly and the fourth, assuming that this is maybe code for "casual carnal encounter," politely instructs me to walk two blocks south and one block east and then stop at a warehouse with a red door. These directions are useless to me, as tonight I am not looking for a Craigslist orgy but in fact a four-piece Brooklyn band called Vagina Panther.
I head to a table at the back of the bar and wait to ask these psychopaths what's up with their moniker. I've already constructed a rowdy mental image of what Vagina Panther will look like, so when they arrive appearing hygienic and calm, I hardly notice them at all. They are kind and gracious people (with respectable day jobs, even) and it took approximately twenty minutes for anyone to make a dick joke. They'd been down the street at their rehearsal space (affectionately called The Fuck Box) preparing for their lone CMJ set — a slot at the Aqualamb Records Trash Bar showcase. It will be their first time playing together in nearly a month, but they are not nervous. Collectively they've played in at least a dozen bands, past and present, and they have a strict No Banter rule so that little time is wasted on small talk. That's right, the members of a band called Vagina Panther have a policy against wisecracks on stage — the joke begins and ends with their name.
Over the course of many pints (two of which end up as broken glass shards wedged inside the drummer's hand), Vagina Panther and I discuss a wide range of subjects including singer June Sung's dream to someday open a karaoke bar in Williamsburg, bassist Johnathan Swafford's adolescent part-time job at McDonald's (where he worked alongside his mom and brother), guitarist John McGill's recent honeymoon, and a bonus tangential Das Kapital shout-out after drummer Christian Rutledge tells us that his wife's grandmother was cremated and buried in a plastic Walmart bag. But first, the question that everyone including Billboard and The Village Voice has been asking: why the fuck did y'all call yourselves Vagina Panther?
"We were in grad school a couple years ago and we started jamming together," explains Swafford. "And we needed a name. And in two different conversations, one dude said 'vagina', and someone else said 'panther.' And we were like, that would be the best band name ever. And that's exactly how it happened. It wasn't a band then. It was a joke." This was roughly five years ago and well before Sung, Rutledge or McGill even joined the band. Everyone is more serious now. "We still do lots of humorous stuff," says Sung. "But there used to be a time when we really slathered it on. Now we have an actual interest in the stuff that we do. We decided to be more earnest about things. We can't just be jesters."
A shit-disturbing name like Vagina Panther causes a commotion and raises a healthy handful of questions. Is this a feminist statement? Is this sexist? Is this a joke? (No on all counts.) As the band becomes upwardly buzzed about, their name is the trait that's most often discussed, until one attends a Vagina Panther show and sees for herself that the whole thing's not a puerile gimmick or strategically salacious marketing move. "I'm always amazed when people actually have a problem with it," says Rutledge. "There is a social discussion to be had about the fact that people are so freaked out by the word 'vagina.' It's an anatomical term."
"The music was never a joke," says McGill. "At some point we realized that maybe we should rethink being so silly. We didn’t want to go overboard. We're not a comedy band." Despite conversations about whether to adopt a new name, Vagina Panther stuck.
At their Trash Bar show in Williamsburg, the band obeys the No Banter rule as they churn out a showcase slot's worth of songs, pausing only to remind attendees of the merch table and to request that the projector be turned off. ("The light was hitting me right in the retina," complains Sung.) Despite having just heard them explain their no-chatting-on-stage policy, I keep waiting for something obscene. Nothing happens. "We try to do everything Ramones style," says McGill. "It's best to bang out eight or nine songs and cut out the bullshit banter."
By not saying much to the crowd, many preconceived notions of Vagina Panther (that they're lewd, unserious, perverted, juvenile) linger a little as the audience awaits full-frontal nudity or a Gwar-style blood shower. People come expecting a raunchy spectacle, and what they get is an honest rock show. It takes a few songs to realize that they're not going to parachute into jokes about genitalia or scream out obscenities. - Vice Magazine
Here are some:
The ferocity of an irritated tiger... An urgency and intensity that's astonishing... You'll find yourself immediately succumbing to their explosive, yet supremely melodic attack . –The Big Takeover
You were dead wrong when you were thinking that a vagina panther was a big cat. In reality, it’s the name of a New York-based rock band that specializes in music that is equal parts sexual effervescence and ferocity. Hence the name. With four band members who site their biggest influences as “beer, orange amps, creepy fingers pedals,” VP is a frenetic blend of genres: black metal, new wave rock, and what I like to call “truculent, dizzying explosion anarchist thighslap.” Yes, that means their debut album (which takes the name of the band because, let’s face it, that was too good not to use again) provides rhythms that will want to drive you to the dance floor. But the most you will do is use your lower body as a drum set. This kind of music urges listeners not to dance, but to walk around in a seemingly drunken haze and make percussion with their anatomy. Each song starts where the last left off—lead singer Dead June’s voice an edgy plea, guitar riffs felt in the spine, foot stomping a necessity—which could work to create either cohesion or repetition.
-studlife
At the end of the day, Vagina Panther have more than a couple of things going for them, notably amazingly heavy Southern Rock-tinted metal, harking back to the good old days, when men were men, and women were also men. Bonus points will be rewarded to Vagina Panther for putting out some of the most awesome album art we’ve seen in a long time (not for the faint-hearted or the geometrically-challenged).
-sup magazine
Hailing themselves as an “illegal rock band,” Vagina Panther aren’t far off the mark – their self-titled debut (opens in iTunes) is fast and furious, with a scuzzy sound that suggests the past 30 years of rock rebellion stuffed into a blender and set to “sludge.”
Link opens in iTunes
Led by their diminutive but fierce front woman Dead June, the band races through eleven tracks at a rapid punk clip. They don’t stop to take a breath or indulge in anything as self-serious as “variety,” and you won’t find an ounce of fat anywhere. A siren kicks off “I Bet You There Are Some Burly Dudes On That Ship…,” and it functions as a warning: VP didn’t come to fuck around. Hardly anything clocks in at over three minutes, and the best tunes (”Dave, You Are Killing Me,” “Pressure Check,” “Action”) compress all the power of classic riff-rock while ditching the excess.
There’s not much in the way of technical flash, but attribute that to VP’s single-minded dedication to tightness. They don’t need solos to destroy, and June’s vocals are forceful without resorting to abrasion. The greatest joy of a record like this is the cohesion that stems from simplicity; it’s hard to get off track if you don’t wander.
The band should get some decent mileage out of its absurd name, but they don’t need any gimmicks: Vagina Panther is steely and huge without ever grabbing at the epic, and the replay factor is off the charts. Bursting with personality, muscle, and danger, this is a godesend for anybody that misses the visceral thrill of real rock ‘n’ roll.
-assault blog
I even held the cd in my hand and thought to myself that it had dope art direction and the song names were super on point. I even pantomimed through conversations with mutual friends about how good John’s band was, nodding in and out all spacey style to give the impression that I was totally down. But the truth is I never listened once until John passed me this video last night. And for that I’m a total dick because they fucking rock.
-highsnobiety.com
I'm just gonna go ahead and give them the "best band name" title for this year. They also rock.
-cool on purpose
VP create a melodic wall that gets heavy, distorted, and sensitive, sometimes within the first minute of a song. May they become the band that will influence many people to form bands in the 10’s.
-thisisbooksmusic.com
Obviously, it's weird. But they're calling friggin' Vagina Panther, aren't they?
-chartattack.com
Casey’s Top 5 band names of 2009 (so far) that you can’t believe someone would actually name their band:
1. Vagina Panther
Yes, you’re reading that right, there is a Brooklyn-based stoner/sludge/rock band called Vagina Panther, and they are tearing their way up the College Media Journal charts. The band is loud, crude, loud, vulgar, loud, crass and loud. And I know the image you have in your head of a bunch of burly, shirtless men singing songs about all the women they get and all the beer they drink and how the two supposedly relate. But get this: It’s a woman who sings, and three dudes who play slave to her lyrics. And she’s hot, too!
-daily nebraskan - THE WEBERNET
Here are some:
The ferocity of an irritated tiger... An urgency and intensity that's astonishing... You'll find yourself immediately succumbing to their explosive, yet supremely melodic attack . –The Big Takeover
You were dead wrong when you were thinking that a vagina panther was a big cat. In reality, it’s the name of a New York-based rock band that specializes in music that is equal parts sexual effervescence and ferocity. Hence the name. With four band members who site their biggest influences as “beer, orange amps, creepy fingers pedals,” VP is a frenetic blend of genres: black metal, new wave rock, and what I like to call “truculent, dizzying explosion anarchist thighslap.” Yes, that means their debut album (which takes the name of the band because, let’s face it, that was too good not to use again) provides rhythms that will want to drive you to the dance floor. But the most you will do is use your lower body as a drum set. This kind of music urges listeners not to dance, but to walk around in a seemingly drunken haze and make percussion with their anatomy. Each song starts where the last left off—lead singer Dead June’s voice an edgy plea, guitar riffs felt in the spine, foot stomping a necessity—which could work to create either cohesion or repetition.
-studlife
At the end of the day, Vagina Panther have more than a couple of things going for them, notably amazingly heavy Southern Rock-tinted metal, harking back to the good old days, when men were men, and women were also men. Bonus points will be rewarded to Vagina Panther for putting out some of the most awesome album art we’ve seen in a long time (not for the faint-hearted or the geometrically-challenged).
-sup magazine
Hailing themselves as an “illegal rock band,” Vagina Panther aren’t far off the mark – their self-titled debut (opens in iTunes) is fast and furious, with a scuzzy sound that suggests the past 30 years of rock rebellion stuffed into a blender and set to “sludge.”
Link opens in iTunes
Led by their diminutive but fierce front woman Dead June, the band races through eleven tracks at a rapid punk clip. They don’t stop to take a breath or indulge in anything as self-serious as “variety,” and you won’t find an ounce of fat anywhere. A siren kicks off “I Bet You There Are Some Burly Dudes On That Ship…,” and it functions as a warning: VP didn’t come to fuck around. Hardly anything clocks in at over three minutes, and the best tunes (”Dave, You Are Killing Me,” “Pressure Check,” “Action”) compress all the power of classic riff-rock while ditching the excess.
There’s not much in the way of technical flash, but attribute that to VP’s single-minded dedication to tightness. They don’t need solos to destroy, and June’s vocals are forceful without resorting to abrasion. The greatest joy of a record like this is the cohesion that stems from simplicity; it’s hard to get off track if you don’t wander.
The band should get some decent mileage out of its absurd name, but they don’t need any gimmicks: Vagina Panther is steely and huge without ever grabbing at the epic, and the replay factor is off the charts. Bursting with personality, muscle, and danger, this is a godesend for anybody that misses the visceral thrill of real rock ‘n’ roll.
-assault blog
I even held the cd in my hand and thought to myself that it had dope art direction and the song names were super on point. I even pantomimed through conversations with mutual friends about how good John’s band was, nodding in and out all spacey style to give the impression that I was totally down. But the truth is I never listened once until John passed me this video last night. And for that I’m a total dick because they fucking rock.
-highsnobiety.com
I'm just gonna go ahead and give them the "best band name" title for this year. They also rock.
-cool on purpose
VP create a melodic wall that gets heavy, distorted, and sensitive, sometimes within the first minute of a song. May they become the band that will influence many people to form bands in the 10’s.
-thisisbooksmusic.com
Obviously, it's weird. But they're calling friggin' Vagina Panther, aren't they?
-chartattack.com
Casey’s Top 5 band names of 2009 (so far) that you can’t believe someone would actually name their band:
1. Vagina Panther
Yes, you’re reading that right, there is a Brooklyn-based stoner/sludge/rock band called Vagina Panther, and they are tearing their way up the College Media Journal charts. The band is loud, crude, loud, vulgar, loud, crass and loud. And I know the image you have in your head of a bunch of burly, shirtless men singing songs about all the women they get and all the beer they drink and how the two supposedly relate. But get this: It’s a woman who sings, and three dudes who play slave to her lyrics. And she’s hot, too!
-daily nebraskan - THE WEBERNET
vaginapanther WHITE HOT MESS: Vagina Panther, TUES SEPT 29 EUROPA 9PM in Greenpoint Brooklyn. FREE
reelrootsryan @buildestroy @binarymob evidently there's a band called "Vagina Panther" ... and we didn't even get to write for the video
Jwbreede I just discovered a band named Vagina Panther, vulgar, yet interesting...hmm...
giannottitv ...un gruppo che si chiama Vagina Panther entra di diritto nella mia playlist...:http://twurl.nl/zi5qju
1 day ago from Seesmic
joaoayub I favorited a YouTube video -- Vagina Panther Dave You're Killing Me http://bit.ly/sBAqF
VincentGarguilo Drove a minivan into the village. Now I'm sitting in the basement, cave really, of Lit, waiting for a band called Vagina Panther play. What?
supmag new Vagina Panther video for "Dave, You're Killing Me" on 'SUP site! http://bit.ly/sXbsW
jolenta We were just sent music from a band called Vagina Panther. Uhhhh....awesome? (via @segelinde190) <---For real?!
therathaus We were just sent music from a band called Vagina Panther. Uhhhh....awesome?
gimmetinnitus RT :: Download the new Vagina Panther (yes, Vagina Panther) single, "Dave, You're Killing Me"... http://tinyurl.com/y983hvr (via @supmag)
supmag Download the new Vagina Panther (yes, Vagina Panther) single, "Dave, You're Killing Me" on the site now! http://tinyurl.com/y983hvr
womensradio RT @vaginapanther Vagina Panther This Friday @ Lit Lounge 93 2nd Ave NYC. Shows @ 9PM. BLEED!
vaginapanther Vagina Panther This Friday @ Lit Lounge 93 2nd Ave NYC. Shows @ 9PM. BLEED!
thisisjohnbook My review of the debut album by Vagina Panther is here, it has now become one of my favorite albums of 2009. http://bit.ly/pHPfr
rafeiros Novo clipe dos VAGINA PANTHER (a sério, chamam-se mesmo assim): http://bit.ly/jaDnw
paultao umm i just got a promo cd in the mail for a band called Vagina Panther.
paulmedley just loved Vagina Panther - Dave, You Are Killing Me. http://awe.sm/1gp8 on @hypem
PlasticFang just loved Vagina Panther - Dave, You Are Killing Me. http://awe.sm/1ggw on @hypem
TheDeliMagazine Aderbat, Vagina Panther, Holly Miranda, Spider, fun., Dandelion Snow. http://tr.im/zp7V
TheDeliMagazine Aderbat, Vagina Panther, Holly Miranda, Spider, fun., Dandelion Snow. http://tr.im./zp7V
freshvideos Fresh Videos | Vagina Panther - Dave, You`re Killing Me http://bit.ly/3O8W1Y
kpinto RT @cgtmouse Yes, there is a band called Vagina Panther.
editaurus Vagina Panther? "Illegal rock band from Brooklyn USA"? If only...
cgtmouse Yes, there is a band called Vagina Panther.
musicandmoxie press releases that involve the band name Vagina Panther in big gigantic bolded text and photos, should probably come with a NSFW warning
sydmusic RT @annagaz: A press release I received: "Members of Vagina Panther become juicy, pulsating, gyrating crotch monsters in debut video."
annagaz Title of a press release I received today: "Members of Vagina Panther become juicy, pulsating, gyrating crotch monsters in debut video."
candrews so @akmattos alerts me to a fact that there exists a band named 'vagina panther': "A band imagining Chrissie Hynde as an Asian ex-sex slave"
TheBlackNerd @spydabass Umm... I believe the best band name is Vagina Panther.
- Twitter
Discography
Judge 2012
S/T 2009
Photos
Bio
VP is a heavy rock band from Brooklyn, New York.
In our world of non-smoking rock venues and other diluted versions of what once was, VP return a bit of the dirty back to its rightful home of Rock. Rock 'n' Roll was never meant to be safe or clean.
Seen heard: Spin Magazine, CMJ, NXNE, Metal Sucks, A/V Club, Fuse, Much Music, heavy.com
On The Web:
http://www.vaginapanther.com
http://www.facebook.com/vagpanther
http://www.twitter.com/vaginapanther
http://www.youtube.com/user/vaginapanther
Media Links & Downloads:
V.P. is Dead June on Vocals & Guitar, Kit Days on Guitar, Johnathan Swass on Bass and Christian Rutledge on Drums.
Band Members
Links