together PANGEA - White Reaper -- DC9 - Nov 17th

White Reaper - I began a record review recently with 'from the fertile musical grounds of Louisville, Kentucky' comes.... That intro works again here with these four guys that take the more universal elements of punk-power pop and merge in some garage psyche sounds to create a high energy beast. It is great to see a band jump around like the early days of punk rock and with high octane music like this, it is pretty hard not to. They are letting it all hang out with a driving rhythm section, hyper guitar, and looping synth runs. The songs are good with the closer being outrageously catchy with its piercing organ-like line working off a ferocious but melodic core. Reap the benefits of a great set of music and see this band next time through.

together PANGEA - This SoCal band has been through a few times before and has put on some great sets, so I expected nothing less tonight. And of course, they delivered. They are a perfect follow-up to White Reaper so this a great tour pairing. The sound is similar but more guitar oriented here. They work the same terrain as the Dickies, but with more of a nod to driving 60s garage rock. But the pace and hooks are up there with the best of the punk era bands as well. The crisp drumming is what strikes me as being particularly important and gives a quality base and pace for the bassist to lay down flowing, driving patterns that allows the guitarists to rollick and roll to their spleen's content. The vocals are good with one guitarist taking the lead. The bassist adds a lot of harmony and depth to the singing with the drummer chiming in as well. The songs are gritty, tough enough, but with a drive to the heart that keeps them memorable and familiar sounding even if they are new. Good crowd tonight, energy erratic, but quite intense in spots. Little time for catching one's breath as these guys only stopped for the briefest of patter a couple of times. Otherwise, it was song after song, which is a great way to do it when you have songs like this.

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