FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2008
The Panics Cruel Guards
Sometimes you know an album is going to be great as soon as you hear the beginning of the first song. Not just good, or out of the ordinary, but top-10-desert-island great. When you hear the first drum roll breaking into soaring strings, you’ll know why Cruel Guards from The Panics merits its way into the land of unforgettable albums. Releasing on October 7th, Cruel Guards will delight new audiences with its instant appeal and lasting beauty.
“Get Us Home” is the lead track from The Panics’ first US release on Dew Process. Deliriously catchy, yet not quite rock and not quite pop, The Panics were aiming for “direct and simple and big on the Motown style chords and strings,” explains front man and lead songwriter Jae Laffer. This theme continues with triumphant trumpet sections and full string arrangements scattered throughout the album.
When Kings of Leon’s Nathan Folowill talked with Rolling Stone Magazine at this year’s SXSW, he raved about catching The Panics performance and was quoted as saying… “You know how normally when you hear a band you can list the bands that influenced them or that they ripped off straight away? We couldn’t do it for them. They sounded like nothing I’d heard before, really melodic, almost atmospheric.”
Other notable industry folks are beginning to take notice with Nic Harcourt of KCRW immediately giving The Panics one of the stations coveted “Top Tunes” spot and Marty Diamond (agent for Coldplay and Sigur Ros) taking them on for touring representation. In the UK the late, great Tony Wilson, who launched Factory records, Joy Division and New Order, was a huge fan and championed the band on radio and at his annual music convention; Tony got the band to play the UK’s In the City Music Convention twice.
Big things have been predicted for The Panics and it’s been a steady, impressive build since forming five years ago when the band was spotted by Happy Mondays and signed to their UK/ Australian littleBIGMAN record label. They released a stream of quality EPs and albums with their last Sleeps Like A Curse (2005) being nominated for a prestigious J Award.
In 2007, The Panics’ Cruel Guards was named Triple J “Album of the Year.” The J Award was established to recognize an Australian album of outstanding achievement as a musical work of art (equivalent to a Mercury Prize in the UK). Previous winners include Wolfmother (2005) and Hilltop Hoods (2006). “Don’t fight it” from Cruel Guards was also named in the top ten tracks of the year. The album has surpassed gold in sales and is fast approaching platinum in Australia. In addition to a US release, Cruel Guards will be released in Canada, UK, South Africa and New Zealand.
“Get Us Home” is followed by nine other tracks including gems “Don’t Fight It,” “Creaks,” and “Ruins.” A US winter tour is in the works.
