Album Review: Hot Panda - Volcano…Bloody Volcano!
Odds are you’ve never heard of Hot Panda before. If you have, you probably know one of the members, live in Edmonton (where they’re from), or you just listen to every band that has ever existed (all the power to you). If you don’t fit the above profile, it’s no real loss. Hot Panda will not change your life. If anything, they’ll merely make you realize that putting out a great album is very difficult.
Case in point, Volcano…Bloody Volcano!. While not bad in any sense of the word, the record just isn’t all that great. To put it bluntly, it’s a mediocre offering from a band that doesn’t deserve to be the next thing in music. Of course, rarely is a band deserving of this honor, so they shouldn’t be offended by this fact, but they also shouldn’t expect buzz. Mediocrity is not the equivalence of worthlessness, it simply means there is nothing amazing about them, and nothing awful about them. Not every little band from Canada can be the next Arcade Fire. That’s just the way it is. Such is the case that Hot Panda is just all right.
Where the band falters is in their lack of variety in sound. On Volcano…Bloody Volcano!, the group has a style that brings together dozens of influences, but in the end, these all come together in the same fashion on every track. The instruments and vocals play the same roles with each subsequent song, in such a way that it really only takes one song’s listen-through to “get” Hot Panda. The bass bumps along, a little synth comes in, then come the monotonous but distressed vocals (think Brandon Flowers meets Tim Kasher), and rhythmic electric guitar strums. Sometimes we’re even graced with those annoying shout-em-out backing vocals. It’s just the exact sort of band dynamic you’d conjure up if given the god-awful task of defining the ambiguous term that is “indie rock.” Song structures vary only ever-so-slightly, and the whole thing kind of meshes together, becoming one drawn out blur.
There’s no mystery to how the songs were constructed either, the ingredients are laid out pretty explicitly, which makes things all the less exciting. Of course, there are areas of highlight, such as the lush echoed background male and female vocals found on tracks like “Whale Headed Girl” and “It’s Not Worth Eight Dollars”, and some nice guitar licks that arrive on “I Tried Very Hard”, “Gold Star Swimmer” (the album’s true gem), and “Sexual Frustration” (another worthy track). But again, there aren’t any surprises and the wow factor is pretty low. Sure, the band has some planned instrumental freak outs, but even those don’t really come as much of a shock. Really, what this album desperately needs is some diversity.
Hot Panda shouldn’t give up. They have potential, and this album is not a total failure. It’s just that, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t stand out as particularly special. Volcano…Bloody Volcano! is as good an example as any of a group of songs that cannot be labeled good or bad. Simply put, Hot Panda’s debut could be a whole lot better, and it could be a whole lot worse.
Rating: 
Check Out:
“Cold Hands, Chapped Lips”
They played a house party i was at this past weekend! Awesome.
How could anybody take this review seriously? This is a writer struggling to come to grips with a band that really doesn’t sound like anybody else. “Where the band falters is in their lack of variety in sound,” writes Master Lito-witlez. And in the very next sentence, the very next sentence mind you, we get “On Volcano…Bloody Volcano!, the group has a style that brings together dozens of influences.” Confused? Absolutely. For the record, (pun intended), Volcano includes the standard indie pop arsenal (bass, drums, guitars), along with accordion, glockenspiel, trumpet and the odd operatic vocals. Whether you like this disc or not is a matter of taste but please don’t overlook the undeniable original essentials. On its first week of release it was No 1 on Canadian college charts and number 21 in the U.S.A. What does that tell ya?
I found the blog after doing a search on Hot Panda (the band, not the panda porn website) and then read the silliness in the comments.
Just wanted to say thanks for the informative review and the fine writing. & just like when I would receive negative calls during my radio show, you have to wonder- if someone does not like it, why read and comment? That just implies a surplus of negative energy within someone.
Why would CoS staff try to defend their own articles? If you’re in the business of reviewing, expect readers to do the same in return.
I like CoS. Why bother with the petty nonsense?
but I don’t expect very good articles.>>>
That’s about as ignorant as your last comment. You consistently say stuff without anything to purport your statements/arguments. In fact, that’s a step below high school papers/debates, as far as I’m concerned.
Yet if you feel that way, that’s unfortunate. We tend to work our ass off to provide some quality and decent content — especially considering none of us are paid — so if you want to ignore most of the content, it’s your loss.
I would agree, there are several “reviews” and stories that are just poorly written. I still come to the site for music news but I don’t expect very good articles.
As far as pointers are concerned, maybe just try and write more intelligent reviews that don’t sound like high school papers.
Another smart ass comment with nothing to back it.
I would first start by deleting the whole thing.
So, Anonymous…give us some “pointers”, why don’t ya?
This review is so bad. Seriously. Where did you guys learn how to write? I don’t know if the review makes me want to or not want to listen to the album, but it definitely makes me not want to read this blog anymore. This review is just that shitty.