June 7, 2023

HOT PANDA-Bad Pop

I really expected to not like this record, based on the name of the band, the name of the album, and the fact that the opening sounds of “Other Spooky Is” sounded like heated over 1990s pop punk—Iggy Pop satisfies the Offspring. but I let it play for 15 seconds. then 30. then minutes. then I was several tracks in and I was slamming my hands against the steering wheel and screaming along to songs I’d never heard before.

I don’t know much about these Canadian rockers, but their album kicks much ass. This is actually their fourth record, which explains how they’re so tight. The lyrics are often hilarious, the music is muscular like Future of the Left…This isn’t postpunk, this is a new kind of punk: Complex, informed by everything that came before, full of sizzling guitar work, and sacrificing nothing.