The Giant Panther

I'm crawling out of the woodwork to actually blog on something. For those of you who don't know, there are two writers for The Giant Panther, John and Ryan. This would be Ryan. John can actually be counted on to keep the ball rolling, posting faithfully and passionately on a regular basis, conjuring up lost classics and concert reviews.

I'm the other typically more cynical jerk who really kind of just chimes in twice a year when something (usually new) really grabs my attention. I don't like ACDC or any other band I might hear at a Patriots game, but John and I rarely disagree on loving a band beyond those guidelines. He's been on a quite a run lately I might add, loving The Replacements and others.

I came across The Drums somewhere in my aimless web browsing, and their sound grabbed me immediately. They somehow teeter on the edge of extremely poppy without ever offending me (which extremely poppy tends to do). I think the magic formula for The Drums is their minimalistic approach to pop, sort of a punk theory applied in their genre. Fans of Vampire Weekend (or those of us who find them slightly appealing but mostly tiresome) will most likely enjoy The Drums.

I don't know much about these guys but they have an EP titled Summertime due out on Sept 15, and they hail from Brooklyn. I thought it interesting in their bio that they set out to create a band that sounded like The Wake, a pretty obscure, but awesome concept. If you like New Order, Swans, or Joy Division you would like The Wake by the way. While I do hear hints of it, The Drums are something quite different (which is a good thing, nobody wants an exact replica of something else). Particularly digging Don't Be A Jerk Jonny. "You used to pretty, but now your just tragic, believe in something, you're full of horseshit". How often I've wanted to say that to someone.

Keep an eye on The Drums.

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing Alt Link
The Drums - Don't Be A Jerk, Jonny Alt Link