Hometown: Piedmont
Next local show: 1/14, Oakland Metro
Recent release: Panda E.P., 2006

Panda is the Oakland band you should be talking about at this very moment. Panda. Right now. Panda. Got it? These dudes are kids…literally 17 and 18 years old. But don’t let that fool you, because they rock about 38 times harder than anyone we went to high school with. For that matter, college. And we went to college with Black Sabbath. Nah, just kidding. But this group Panda, they’re something else. We saw them open for fellow Oakland band Maldroid (keep your eyes on East Bay Express for some upcoming coverage on those fellas) at Blakes on Telegraph, and it was an enlightening experience.

Offstage, Panda’s members are normal high school kids. Meek, almost. Certainly unassuming in jeans and white t-shirts. But onstage they rock with such abandon and precision it’s a wonder they’ve done anything but play music over the last decade and a half. And when they covered the Beatles‘ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” we thought we had died and gone someplace very, very nice. To hear musicians so young breathe such life and passion into a 37-year-old song — to hear it as if for the first time — was nothing short of supercalifragilistic. And Panda originals are nothing to scoff at; the band’s songwriting sensibilities, while not entirely developed, are certainly far beyond what one would expect from a typical high school rock band.

Each of the three songs on Panda’s EP, which were on sale for $1 at the show, brings something different. “Carry On” is a keyboard-infused garage rock number that manages to invoke the energy of the Hives and the gravity of Bends-era Radiohead. “Fake Tattoos” has a playful lilt that fans of the Shins and the Decemberists will recognize, but it’s got more rock than either of those bands can muster. “Alan Li” is the most modern song, an angsty three-minute alt-rock number. All three songs are available on Panda’s MySpace page.

PANDASMEAR:
-Panda has already signed to San Francisco’s PopSmear Records, also home to Two Seconds, Tragedy Andy, Soundboy, Ariel Mile, and Deflator Mouse.
-Panda recorded its EP at PopSmear Studios, located in central San Rafael.
-PopSmear band Ariel Mile features two members of local punk group Tsunami Bomb, while Two Seconds is made up of two more 16-year-olds. The kids are alright!