The Panics are one of this nation’s great bands, and it seems they are keen to become one of this nation’s great exports too – recently spending time trying their luck in the United Kingdom. Although it has been a while since we heard any real murmurs from the band, frontman Jae Laffer confirms the beloved Ashes were not all the English managed to pry from our desperate hands earlier this year.
After one last national tour on the back of 2007’s Cruel Guards to round-out the Australian summer, Laffer and his merry gentleman decided they liked the sound of an international fan-base. “Basically, we went over, had a month in an apartment together in Manchester just writing tunes, then the touring started and the radio started picking up the song.”
The song is of course Don’t Fight It. It’s a track so catchy and relatable, it found itself featuring in more screenplays than Jeff Buckley’s rendition of Hallelujah. It was this very track that set the stage for them to take on the UK with a dose of Western Australian charm.
“We just went over and spent every dollar we had on trying to get a cool team of people together to really push it in people’s faces and try and get on the front of as many magazines and newspapers as we could,” says Laffer. “Don’t Fight It hit high rotation on London radio’s Xfm a couple of weeks after we arrived and basically it made life really good.
“It got us out of London where you still get a lot of tourists at your gigs. From there we sold out our gigs in Manchester, and Glasgow, and Edinburgh…It just kind of snowballed from there.”
After “so long trying to get off those little stages” back home, one would have forgiven the lads for being a little hesitant before trying to work their way up the food chain all over again. However, just as eager to play a crowded festival as a dank Glaswegian basement, it seems clear the band were up for the challenge. “We knew exactly what it would be like and I guess because we’d done it all before for so long we feel that nothing really surprises us anymore. We’d kind of show up to play anywhere.”
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that for long. “At the end of the day it all worked out really good. With a combination of a bunch of really good gigs and getting all over the radio, we managed to get all these great full-page spreads in The London Times and The Independent and all these iconic, really cool newspapers. I’m really happy that it happened that way. Journalists heard about us, and came to us – it’s always the coolest way to do it.”
With new material in the bag but only limited time to – œwow’ a new audience, all new songs took to the backburner. Material from the acclaimed Cruel Guards dominated set-lists. With the album being received in the UK a year after its Australia release, the band was met with the strange phenomena of – œdebuting’ old and well-received songs as shiny new risks. “We had to remember it was new to them,” Laffer explains on the winding back the clock for Cruel Guards.
They will opt instead to test “one or two new numbers” on the home audiences as they romp around the country at the forefront of the third installment of the JD Set, with support from Matheson and The Bloodpoets.
Then, once a producer and location have been found (Laffer says “several are on the wish list”), production will begin on the eagerly awaited follow-up to Cruel Guards. Currently perfecting the skeletons of new tracks, Laffer is hoping “a lot of it will expose itself in the studio.” The album promises, “a few strange numbers, and a few rockers as well”. Laffer jokingly promises to “keep away from the synth.”
As for the summer festival circuit, it seems the arm-in-arm rendition of Don’t Fight It may unfortunately be left to the mercy of the campsite cover band. “I’m not exactly sure how much we’ll do,” Laffer concedes. “We have a bunch of low-key things coming, but there’s a good chance we’ll still be working really hard preparing for the new album.”
The Panics headline The JD Set tour this month, supported by The Bloodpoets and Matheson. For more info, head to thejdset.com.au.
Wednesday 23 September – The Esplanade Hotel (Espy), Melbourne
Thursday 24 September – The Capitol Theatre, Perth
Friday 25 September – The Esplanade Hotel, Busselton
to listen to their music now on 