PANDA KID

'Garage, psichedelia, lo-fi, indie, punk, pop, non si capisce bene cosa sia ma Panda Kid funziona. Dietro alle sembianze di una band si nasconde la mente di uno di quelli che tenta seriamente di uscire dai confini sonori italiani. Cosa che già accade, visto che pubblica per Already Dead Tapes (USA) e che ha già fatto diverse date fuori dall'Italia anche in compagnia di band come Thee Oh Sees o Veronica Falls.'
RUMORE (IT) ' - RUMORE MAGAZINE

'Immaginate Barrett e Donovan ,insieme a Frank Black e Wavves , in esilio forzato in un disperso atollo polinesiano'
BLOW UP - BLOW UP MAGAZINE

Suoni acidi intrecciati a una voce sbilenca e favole allucinogene. Incubi dai colori fluorescenti sonorizzati da una miscela di garage lo-fi e incisi su un vecchio registratore Fostex a cassette. I Panda Kid sfornano una mezzoretta di musica tanto folle quanto ispirata che si condensa in nove tracce stampate su un disco in vinile confezionato in maniera preziosa. I suoni - aspri, psichedelici e rarefatti - sono curati in modo tale che il loro sapore contemporaneo riesce ad assomigliare al gusto del passato a cui si ispirano senza mai sembrare datati.
Reduce da infiniti cambi di formazione, scorribande in Europa e una manciata di pubblicazioni su vinile e cassette, il gruppo vicentino torna con un disco da loro stessi considerato come la naturale prosecuzione dell’ottimo “Scary Monster Juice” di qualche anno fa. Effettivamente “Summetry” potrebbe tranquillamente essere il lato B dell’album precedente a partire dall’apertura con “Party Monster” che scioglie lo stile personale della band nel mood dei Black Lips. Lo spirito dei Cramps è ancora il germe che infetta il sangue del trio vicentino ma “Summetry” deraglia anche altrove e inocula il surf malato dei Panda Kid dentro corpi estranei a base di suoni decisamente eighties, come nella robotica e ammaliante traccia che dà il titolo al disco, fino ad avvicinarsi alle atmosfere sintetizzate da Nathan Williams quando dava alla luce il progetto Wavves (“To the tramp”).

Nessuna rivoluzione sonora o inversione di rotta, “Summetry” conferma con forza che i Panda Kid sono una realtà italiana più che interessante, da gustare assolutamente dal vivo e che potrebbe venire apprezzata anche fuori dai confini nazionali. - ROCK IT (IT)

Panda Kid es otra de las bandas que se apuntan a dar la bienvenida al verano y lo hacen con nuevo single bajo el brazo, presentado este fin de semana a través de las redes sociales.

El guiño estival de la formación de Vicenza llega en formato de single, presentado en modalidad vídeo con un montaje en el que se hacen servir de imágenes del film The Blue Lagoon. El tema escogido lleva por nombre Palm Spring$ y mantiene en parte la línea de las últimas publicaciones de la banda, con influencias del sonido California de los 60′, dejando de lado aquí su apuesta por el garage en favor de un sonido más envolvente. Su última publicación hasta el momento era el disco Summetry, presentado en 2013 y disponible aquí. - Shook down(ES)

Héroes de la producción casera. La historia del pop está llena de ellos. Pequeños milagros en forma de grupo o artista maldito que se lo graban todo ellos en el salón de casa, al más puro estilo Juan Palomo. En esta redacción tenemos especial predilección por ellos, así que no es de extrañar que hayamos caído en las garras de Panda Kid, misterioso freak de California que, tras un par de epes, nos ha dejado babeando con el adelanto del que será su primer larga duración, un disco titulado Summetry, que tendrá una edición limitada en vinilo bajo el sello Already Dead Tapes de solo cien copias, a elegir en tres colores y con un poster de regalo.

Hablemos de este adelanto, una canción que responde al nombre de “Daltonic Eyes” en la que Panda Kid se descubre como una versión alucinada, esquizo y etílica de Marc Bolan. Ganas de escuchar el disco entero ya.

A este californiano le gusta definirse como un artista cercano a Wavves y Ty Segall, y ha sido telonero, entre otros, de Veronica Falls, Thee Oh Sees y No Monster Club. Tonto no es. Pero él va por libre. Una muestra, así es como define su música en Bandcamp: “a great combination of 80s stellar Punk vs. 60s garage and Tropical beats”. - This is Underground (ES)

PANDA KID - A LONG LONG SUMMER

TROPICAL BEAT , PSYCHEDELIC SOUND ,A FUNNY CREATURE THAT SHAKE YOUR BRAIN .

THE BEST BARE-BONE GARAGE SOUND YOU CAN FIND! AN AMAZING COMBINATION OF STELLAR PUNK, FROM THE 80'S AND GARAGE FROM THE 60'S, ACTIVE FROM 2 YEARS ,PANDA KID RELEASE A SPLIT AND AN ALBUM AND HAS DIVIDE THE STAGE WITH BANDS LIKE THEE OH SEES, VERONICA FALLS ,SONNY VINCENT , NO MONSTER CLUB ,CUT etc. - Balcony Tv

I spoke recently about Irish one-man garage wonderkind No Monster Club (who intimated he had kicked the bucket, but it wasn't the case - see here for more info on that). Well not that long ago he did a split release with Italian punky scrat Panda Kid. Well these crazy dudes released their first LP Scary Monster Juice on cassette not too long ago (out through Already Dead), which is 10 slices of skronky garage punk jams. There is a little bit of Digital Leather in this stuff, with just enough accessibility amongst the clatter and din to excite the senses. They are prepping to travel around the Italian countryside before attacking the rest of Europe, landing in the UK in November and December. Keep an eye out - this is some great stuff. Panda Kid - Junkie Girl Panda Kid - A Long Long Summer - Sonic Masala Uk

Couldn’t even feign to have any form of knowledge of Panda Kid, besides the tag-deduced facts that whoever he may be hails from somewhere or other within the unthinkably enormous West Coast utopia that is California, and sees himself to be conjoining a couple dots between he and Wavves, Ty Segall, et al. However scrounge about the internets a little, and it’d appear that the Yank state is more a spiritual dwelling as opposed to the place called casa, as the ‘Kid in fact comes from Povolaro, in periferia di Vicenza. That’s that. Although it’s not this geographical goose chase that’s got me riding the lo-fi this morning, but rather the effervescent tropical pop of Surfer Girl. Like Pablo Díaz-Reixa’s Coconot before him, it’s to your ears what a potent, if gritty beachside piña colada straight outta hollowed-out pineapple is to the tongue. Equal parts joyous, cacophonous, and utterly intoxicating, it may not be quite how Brian Wilson imagined his little Surfer Girl to turn out, but it’s a loveably scatty recording well worth diving on into irregardless. - dots and dashes

Here's an example of a video that is perfectly paired with the music. Panda Kid's Daltronic Eyes, a tune off of their forthcoming Summetry LP on ALREADY DEAD TAPES, is awkward, homemade, psychedelic yet oddly intriguing. While the modalities and songwriting are different, I think fans of White Fence will dig this band. Its a bit more Bolan-esque, but it has the same "outsider art" feel to it that works because...well...it just works. Get it here. - Why pick on me

If Panda Kid ever deigns to tour the Midwest, I can’t begin to think of how much I’d thank them for the absolute joy they bring into my life with each and every release. Summetry, their latest LP, got a US release a few weeks back courtesy of Chicago’s Already Dead, and much like everything this Italian group releases, it’s taken a while to figure out what I think about it.
I mean, granted, I like it. It’s pretty much a given that any Panda Kid release will get some form of thumbs up from me at this point. It’s really more of figuring out what tack the group will take on any given release. On Summetry, it’s a vibe that reminds me if it were possible for a time-traveling Beatles to have grown up listening to Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.

The record has that strange, off-kilter vibe that so many of the best moments from the White Album and Sgt. Pepper have, but even more psychedelic and laconic. “Daltonic Eyes” is as if someone managed to take that breakdown from the end of “Helter Skelter” and stretch it into a four-minute song.
It’s pop, it’s skewed, it’s so fucking hazy that it’s sometimes difficult to determine where the album is going amongst the wash and sheen, especially on cuts like “A Long Long Summer” (which appears in pretty much the same form as it did on Scary Monster Juice). However, those cuts can butt up against something like the title track, and it’s a perfect take-off on New Order, ran through this lo-fi process that will blow your mind, and make you reconsider all over again what this band is capable of.
Panda Kid’s Summetry is available in a limited edition of 30 on white vinyl from Already Dead Tapes and Records, with a hand-screened cover. - nuthosepunk