ALBUM REVIEW: The Panic Report – Land Of Tribes (self-released)
The Panic Report are a four-piece from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, who were formed in 2009 and play a catchy brand of punky ska.
The band consists of John Heston (guitar and lead vox), Chris Brannan (bass and vox), Martin Payton (drums) and Richard Harbison (keys and vox).
Live, I’ve seen them do covers of songs by the likes of The Clash, The Jam, The Specials and Sham 69, but much prefer their original material.
Though they’ve sold home-made CDs of demo tracks at gigs before, this is their first proper album, featuring 11 of their own songs and just one cover.
Recorded at The Bunker in Sunderland, it’s produced by Phil Jackson, who’s done an excellent song of capturing their live sound.
Things kick off with Rocker Billy, an upbeat song about a rock ‘n’ roll lover, and it’s a great opener, which sets the tone nicely for what’s to follow.
Serves You Right, with its bobbling bassline and prominent keys, is another proper skanker, about chickens coming home to roost for bad behaviour.
It’s such a good fit for The Panic Report that I didn’t realise until I read the credits that it’s originally by British-born Jamaican dancehall DJ and musician Macka B.
Elsewhere, Babylon Shim Sham is a live favourite which is just as good on CD, while Salut! is a real earworm of a song.
Dirty Little Flag, powered by a great guitar riff, seems to be about how the union jack was hijacked by Brexiteers and the far right, and is one of the standout songs here.
The ever-widening north-south divide is the subject of another highlight, London You’ve Left Us Behind. It asks “are we going to get together, or are we divided?” I think anyone north of Watford knows the answer to that.
You Liar! is about the sort of shady characters who’d “sell your mother and your dog if you could find a buyer”, while Mr Murdoch is about the Aussie media mogul who seems to have far too much influence on the way this country is run.
In truth, there’s not a bad track among the 12 served up here, so if you see The Panic Report playing near you, do yourself a favour, get along, and snap up a copy of this great album. 8/10
- Land Of Tribes is also available from The Panic Report’s Bandcamp page HERE.
