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On their first full-length since 2000's Are You Down?? (Troubleman Unlimited), Panthers continue mining the dense David Yow machinations of last year's propulsive Let's Get Serious EP (Dim Mak) -- but after dosing on Magma, Swans, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Ash Ra Temple, and other agents of the baroque they've emerged with a bit of King Crimson clinging to their Jesus Lizard. Recorded over ten days with Theory of Ruin's Alex Newport (Melvins, At The Drive In, The Locust) in relative seclusion at the Clubhouse, a converted barn in Rhinebeck, NY, Things Are Strange's nine densely sprawling tracks stretch to just about 50 minutes: single notes turn into swarms; incidental moments unroll and burrow into newer, unexpected movements before dissolving into a disorienting pan. "Since we are all into different music that kind of long heavy psych stuff is really where our Venn diagram overlapped," says vocalist Jayson Green. To assist in the freak-out, German musician Simon Wojan contributes piano, organ, mellotron, and trumpet. Also beefing-up the atmosphere, Turing Machine drummer Gerhart Fuchs throws-down additional percussion and a second kit. All in all, it's an intense, almost claustrophobically expansive ride. The initial blast of Borbetomagus free jazz of "We Are Louder" is buried by an avalanche of cascading guitars ringing like sheets of ice until the ultra heavy drums initiate a pummeling, the voice's sighs twist into rages, and the dynamic undertow takes the track someplace else entirely (a land that includes some smokin' heavy metal fretwork). A humid biosphere breeds an echoing piano on "If You Were Once Young, Rage." And like the best of early (and hungry) Sonic Youth, "My Commodities Have Been Fetishized" build itself upon the temporary autonomous zone of an ever-shifting, ringing guitar scrawl foundation. Each guitar line's a trampoline, lifting the song to higher levels until things explode into total rock-out ballistics. Let's Get Serious' strongest track, "Thanks For The Simulacra" returns with its sexy swagger: David Yow copping a feel from George Michael's "Monkey." It's a warped, multi-layered shouting spree about slang and sleeping: "I was thinking we should sleep in separate beds, but the heat's gone to my head/ Let's get tired at the same time (tonight)." EXTRAS: The European version features the amazing PINK FLOYD cover THE NILE SONG. Please get in contact with us for a copy of the limited 12“ featuring the 4 to the floor remix of THANKS FOR THE SIMULACRA by Jesse Keeler (aka MSTRKRFT, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979) PANTHERS » Thanks For The Simulacra « |
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