The Panda Band - This Vital Chapter

It has begun. Countless awesome Australian bands have been preparing their debut albums seemingly simultaneously to be released at a time that will forever be remembered as a golden age in Australian music. The pressure has been building and now finally the first of these albums has exploded into our open arms. OK, so perhaps I went a bit overboard on the hyperbole but there really is a heap of albums about to be released and we should all be suitably excited. The Panda Band has really set the bar high with this album. 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. If you throw in a bit of Flaming Lips and Sleepy Jackson then you’ll start to get an idea of how they sound. They go beyond what you’d expect from your average four piece, incorporating pianos, horns, a range of wind instruments and quite a bit more. All of this adds that extra dimension to what they create. I’ve gone for the obvious picks in download offerings but if you’ve heard and loved these songs before, than you should need no more convincing from me that this is a great album, an aptly named vital chapter in Australian music.

Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town – While the slowing down is immediately noticeable on first listen, this song still holds all the charm that made me fall in love with it. It’s like a party rolled into 3 short minutes.

Ghosts Have The Best Time – Wow, that intro sure is intense. I literally find myself pumping my fists to it. I never felt it when I heard it on the radio but theres something about listening to it in the context of the whole album that makes it great. Add to that the catchy little melody it breaks out into and you have yourself a winner.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

About time 'death toll town' came out an age ago. If it's anthing to go by should be a good album, uplifting too

Peter said...

Oh it's good all right. Nothing but the best make it to these pages!

Anonymous said...

how many more bands are you gonna review?

Peter said...

more? An infinite number.....I've currently adopted an official rate of one post every 3 days which I'm happy to say I've stuck to so far (thats 122 albums a year!). If by any chance you were referring to my sydney post....i'll prob end up doing around 10 bands as a 'part 1' of a semi-regular feature. did i answer your question!

Anonymous said...

yes i was referring to the sydney bands. yes you answered my question. haha.
10. that's cool. who's next? or is that a secret?

Peter said...

in sydney or general? geez, be specific! hehe. umm coming up in regular is midlake and maybe lily allen - tossing up on her. as for sydney you'll see. not many surprises prob

Anonymous said...

who are midlake? lily allen. she's ok from what i have. hey man do you buy all your music?
as in walk into a shop and purchase the cd? cause man you would have a lot of cds.
hey can i have a copy of this cd? the panda band one. i really like the songs you review. k thanks

Anonymous said...

Going overboard on the hyperbole is like tautologically repeating something.

Peter said...

that's a bit of an EXAGGERATION don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Let's expand vocabulary, Yay!
Lay of with the 'man', just enjoy the music...dude.

Peter said...

be fair, not everyone enjoys a capacious literary lexicon

Anonymous said...

But as you do, they can obviously enjoy a dictionary

Peter said...

who doesn't enjoy a dictionary every now and then?

Unknown said...

i know i do.. i read up on my oxford english just 45 minutes ago

Peter said...

i'm a macquarie person myself. much better with the colloquialisms. plus, they have nice green covers

Anonymous said...

macquarie for me also
i am especially enjoying this entry by the way

Anonymous said...

wow. um, peter...can i have a copy or not? of this album, assuming you have it...

Anonymous said...

Nice work Harumi, just take the convsation on a tangent why don't you. We were talking dictonary's i believe. And yes the macquarie definately wins

Peter said...

Yes.

And it's not like dictionaries aren't some obscure tangent of their own. But then again mindless banter is what these pages are all about. And speaking of ice cream (we were weren't we?) can anyone manage to get it to curl up like it does in the ads? It always seems to collapse on me. I wonder if it's my fridge temperature or maybe my technique.....

Anonymous said...

if you want it to curl:
- use a metal spoon that is spherical in shape
- dip the spoon in some water to get some of the leftover ice cream off between every scoop (best results when the spoon is completely clean)
- move the spoon in a sweeping straight motion (don't dig)
- perhaps leave the ice cream out for a little under a minute so it is a little softer (you want firm yet supple)

but i really want to see brokeback mountain

Peter said...

i too never saw that movie but on the other hand have no desire to. It's not due to the fact that i'm a raging homophobic but simply that i don't like cowboy films.

What really perplexes me however is the desire for plasma screen televisions.

Anonymous said...

As for dictionaries, the Macquarie wins hands down.

Not only is it the go to dictionary of the High Court of Australia, it has the best coverage of obscenities; a hallmark of any good dictionary.

The unabridged 4th edition (2005) also features a table of commonly used SMS expressions in the schedules at the back; a sign the Macquarie does not fear the progression of our language (however questionable such progression it may be, lol).

As for the ice cream. It’s the fridge.

Peter said...

I fear the progression of our language. I use capital letters, full stops and no abbreviations when using the Short Messaging Service. Besides, is it really necessary to be told what =(_8^(1) means?

Unknown said...

i wish i had a macquarie...

Anonymous said...

i didn't know macquarie did that. its important for some people to know what things like stfu means
plasma tvs are skinny. who doesn't like to have skinny things around the house?

Peter said...

But most of them, including stfu (seven totally fabulous unicorns) are obvious.

Skinny they may be. Big they may be. But worth the $4000 investment they may not be

Anonymous said...

i'll show you seven totally fabulous unicorns

Peter said...

stuff you!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad my reprimand of Harumi got things back on track. Ice Cream is good, so is the Macquarie but abbreviations and such mobile phone lingo is not. Music is also excellent, perhaps we should give talking about it a try.

Peter said...

Maybe it's about time you stopped perhapsing and started producing. I've already offered my take on this band (who is it again....) now it's everyone elses turn to give theirs. Unless they have even BETTER bands to rave about....