Thursday, June 11, 2009

Black Panda on Super Secret records



This mini EP from Black Panda is another one I got in the mail the other day from Super Secret records. I can appreciate that Super Secret has it's finger on the pulse of the local Austin scene...not the fuckers that show up once a year to probably turn the place into a theme park shithole, and then leave.
Their town gets a lot of attention every year and the local bands I'm sure are completely overshadowed by this mess that rolls in...I think it's great that a local label probably sprung up out of this local scene...with or without SXSW, they are pressing their friends stuff and they are into it. I can't argue with that. They have a clear vision of the audience and the people they want to be a part of their label.
Undoubtedly little of this stuff would see the light of day any other way....so good on you Super Secret.

With this one from Black Panda, Yoshi has some pretty specific ideas about vocal that's going to determine the audience. The vocals have so much attitude and texture, from half growl, to exhaustion... but they seem a lot louder in the mix. I want the instrumentation to have the same attitude...it's a little muddy and quiet...like some punk singles from the late 70's...they wanted to highlight the singer...which is what they are doing here...I think that's my jaded garage hozac/sacred bones/columbus discount ear. There are some really puzzling lyrics...bluebird GHQ? Something might be lost on some kind of translation.
This really could have been recorded 30 years ago...you'd either say this is timeless or unaware.
I saw a lot of Stooges references in other reviews..... but let's see where things go. It's definitely informed by that kind of thing, straight up raw rock.

This is on Super Secret records.

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