Panda Riot | She Dares All Things
Posted: January 22nd, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: music, pop, shoegaze | 1 Comment »
Chalk this up to an album (and band) that I completely overlooked last year. Originally based out of Philadelphia with concentrated live plays in New York and Philly, I missed the (now Chicago-based) “swirl-pop” outfit, Panda Riot, along with their debut album She Dares All Things. With a sound right up my alley and consistently playing in the two cities where I see the most live music (esp Philly), I’m not sure how this band slipped through the cracks for so long.
On She Dares All Things the trio of Rebecca Scott, Brian Cook, and Justin Cheng maintain a sound that combines creative shoegaze and indie pop. Throughout the album, charming, hooky melodies and pop twists are blended with raucous walls of noise. Rebecca Scott’s delicate breathy vocals add further sweetness to the slabs of noise, making for a solid collection of fuzzed out shoegaze tracks. The only issue that one may find with the record (as a friend pointed out) is the lack of live drums (Panda Riot employs a drum machine to kick out their beats), which at times can be weak. It doesn’t take anything away from the band’s sound, but live percussion could be a solid addition on future work.
Fans of Swirlies, Curve, and swirling dreamy shoegaze will find She Dares nine tracks more than satisfying. Certainly an overlooked gem of 2007. The self-released record is out now and available digitally from iTunes and Amazon. If it’s a physical copy of the album you’re looking for, order it over at the band’s website. Check out “Marker” and “Art School Girls of Doom” along with a video for the album’s title track below. Love the drone-y guitars. More songs on MySpace.
[MP3]: Panda Riot ”Marker”
[MP3]: Panda Riot ”Art School Girls of Doom”
She Dares All Things, Self-Released; 2007
You’re not wrong! This is the best shoegazing album in 15 years. Too much of what passes for shoegazing is either slowdive ambient or mogwai post-rock. This is proper old-school shoegazing with a vengeance. & to have a whole album that’s this consistently good is almost miraculous.