Live: Vagina Panther @ Trash Bar 10.17.12

Vagina Panther have become quite the rock juggernaut in the last year or so, playing well-received gigs from here to Columbus behind their recent Aqualamb EP Judge. The foursome returned to Trash Bar for their CMJ debut, romping through way too short of a set to a full house. I expect their Tinderbox set next month at Webster will be a tad more expansive.Vagina Panther is loud rock made in small rooms to be played on big ones like Webster Hall.

Seems like JS-NYC isn't the only one to think so. Check the interview with Vice here.

R

Vagina Panther: Live @ Trash Bar 8.22.8

Christian was after me to come out to this show. In addition to being a good buddy, he plays with Bowery Boy Blue and is known to have a pretty good ear. His boy Trent, who used to play with Xtian in Canadian powerhouse Jonestown Punch back in the 80s, was behind the kit for Vagina Panther and I hadn't seen either of them in forever, so out to Brooklyn on a Friday night I went.  I had been to Trash a couple times, but it is not high on my list of places to be on a Friday night, but I think we all know my ambivalence with the lands across the East River.

Luckily (for whom, I'm not sure) I didn't get lost or too irritated on the ride out. I ran into Christian in short order and set to catching up with him and getting the low-down on Vagina Panther. VP are a five piece, with female lead vocals. Melding the guitars of The Stooges to the vocals of Lush, they put out quite a pleasant wall of sound. It really wasn't what I expected, but it was far from bad. They rock, but Vagina Panther could use a little more of a stage show. I'm not sure whether they should push the vagina or the panther end of the equation, but they seem like obvious places to start.

Now don't get me wrong, Dead June holds her own as the frontwoman for Vagina Panther. It's fortunate, as the rest of the boys spent most of the set with their back to the audience. Initially, I thought it was a Swiz homage, but finally have reconciled it to the fact that Trent must look really good with his shirt off. Trent's formidable sexual aura aside, they tore through seven or eight tracks in short order and got a pretty good response from the room. I'd like to see them again.

VP are currently recording for a full-length with Grammy Award winning producer Mario McNulty. No word about a label, but I'm figuring on a self-release, at least initially. There are four recordings up on the MySpace to pique your interest in the meantime. Check the webpage and MySpace for more live dates and a time frame for the release of the recordings. 

R

Vagina Panther web portal

VP social networking engine