Live: Vagina Panther @ The Delancey 11.3.11 late

The evening had turned into quite an evening for bearded drummers. Having taken in my first amazing Boy King Island set down the block earlier in the evening, it was a pleasure to inch ever closer to JS-NYC HQ with my rock gourmandizing.
I'd seen Vagina Panther a couple times previous and thought they were ok, but Rut on the drum kit seems to have kicked things up a couple notches. They sound a lot better, and the bass player sure seems to have a ball playing with the stick splitting caveman that comprises the other half of the VP rhythm section. Mario was on the scene to keep the drummer quotient high while June and Co. rocked the hell out of the lower level of The Delancey. They've got a good thing going and a new self-titled record you can get here at the Vagina Panther web presence.

R

New Vagina Panther

There comes an odd time in a man's life when you get a phone call from a trusted friend to go see some mutual friends play in their new band. This happened a year or so ago when a dear friend (as well as 50% of JS-NYC readership and formidable beard farmer) Rut called and said I had to see Vagina Panther. I'll be the first to remind you that I'm kind of a douchebag, but the trifecta of Brooklyn, Trash Bar and the name Vagina Panther is not liable to take me out of my usual homebound schedule of MP3 pliferage and herbal-induced bile spewing. That said, Rut has better than average tastes, so on the bike I went and had my ass rocked in a pronounced fashion.

If you are a prude, the lady and men of Vagina Panther are probably not going to getting a lot of spins. Start with the name, add a cover with a post-modern lactating breast and have a logo featuring a priapic unicorn and you might think VP are the second coming of The Mentors with a Williamsburg spin. Blessedly to these ears, you would be very wrong. Vagina Panther is a great fucking record, both literally and figuratively, full of a sexy swagger that is hard to ignore. The good ship Vagina Panther is helmed by the diminutive dynamo that is Dead June. To look at her, you might doubt social morays revolving around necrophilia and surmise that some Haitian Vodun has been harnessed, as she tears up the record from the opening number to note last. The band is tight as hell, providing quite the foundation for June's Chrissie Hynde meets Poly Styrene vocalizing and no doubt setting many an ass to shaking. I'm pretty impressed all around. The songs and band are great, but huge kudos and boxes of donuts should go to producer Mario McNulty for his work on Vagina Panther. This record is definitely one of the best sounding records I've heard all year. It's not rocket surgery: good songs and good production equal great records. If there is any justice in this world, Vagina Panther will depose boring dreck like Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and get this fearsome fivesome a lot of notice. They debuted at 156 on the CMJ 200 and evidently have a video coming down the pike soon. Safe money is on it not being watchable at work. While you're waiting, pop on over the VP lair and keep track of all things Vagina Panther here.

The Raveonettes - Beauty Dies EP

I can't say that I was ever the hugest fan of the Raveonettes. I saw them around and was passingly aware of them recording their first record at Looking Glass, but they seemed a little flavor of the month for me. I figured we'd see them going the way of the The Hives and/or The Strokes, but lo and behold they have dropped a gang of EPs, encompassing remixes, Christmas fare, as well as Beauty Dies. It's some real ear candy, with lush synths and hazy drums that support singer Sharin Foo's gauzy vocals nicely. Grammy winning producer Mario McNulty does a nice job of reconciling the band's Velvet Underground leanings with their love for electronica. It's probably the best Raveonettes recording I've heard so far, and if they keep going on like these four tunes, they may have a new fan here at JS-NYC.


Keep tabs on with going's on in the world of the Raveonettes here. If you're feeling friendly, befriend them here.

Have a Happy New Year! Check back tomorrow for a JS-NYC Year-End Giveaway.

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