The Panda Band - CharismaWeapon

Mon 8th Aug, 2011 in Music Reviews

In 2006 The Panda Band released This Vital Chapter to all-round acclaim. They were the darlings of the Js, scoring a Hottest 100 entry plus awards like multiple WAMIs and an APRA to boot. They spent some time away touring America, writing their sophomore album and building a home studio. It was ambitious and not without pitfalls and casualties like trying to shop around a record to labels with little success and going through multiple drummers.

This time around the group share writing and production duties with assistance by producer Magoo (Midnight Oil, Powderfinger, Regurgitator). To say that The Panda Band were able to dabble in their art with an unashamed freedom is an understatement. But it is certainly something crystallised by the quirky music they produced, because whether they’re referencing contemporaries like Architecture in Helsinki and The Sleepy Jackson or eccentric alumni like The Flaming Lips and Split Enz, it’s all here in some form or another. As frontman Damian Crosbie sings (in his distinctive tone): “I know I can be unusual/I’m afraid that’s all I can find inside of me”.

We’re Almost Not Even Here kicks things off with a vibe similar to Dappled Cities but coupled with vocal artistry, acapella-style. The LP’s first single, The Fix offered a taste of Fleet Foxes-inspired baroque pop mixed with a folk tinge not dissimilar to Mumford & Sons, while Alligators is some busy and layered space-age pop in the vein of Split Enz. And then there’s How I Could with dirty riffs pilfered from Wolfmother combined with the playfulness of John Steel Singers who themselves enjoy channeling The Beatles’ Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!

There is plenty of whimsy and good, fun times on Charisma Weapon with Jamasoan offering a sing-song nursery rhyme that seems rather childlike until you consider they’re singing “All fall down, leave our loves behind”. But this weapon in the band’s arsenal – like the other songs here – are not just about catchy pop and cheeky music. In fact, these guys are an extremely clever bunch even if the music’s bells and whistles and general disorder can overshadow the proceedings.

Charisma Weapon is a solid effort full of varied bits and bobs from synth to drum machine; brass to strings and all via guitar, bass and drums. When combined there are moments that are Lennon-esque and melodic but these travel through to out-of-this-world dreaminess and layered walls of sound brimming with bricks and mortar. At times rambling and ramshackle and occasionally even a little too easy to get lost in, Charisma Weapon is a detailed kaleidoscope of noise guaranteed to make you discover new elements even on the thousandth listen.