Hot Panda made an odd, but good, impression last year with How Come I’m Dead? (QRO review), but are a little less odd on follow-up Go Outside. Sticking mostly to ditties, though also including other elements, odd or not, Hot Panda are still an interesting, if not easy, band.
Click here for photos of Hot Panda at 2012 Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for photos of Hot Panda at SXSW 2011 in Austin, TX in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for photos of Hot Panda at SXSW 2010 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Things start out hard-rocking with opener "One In the Head, One In the Chest", but even that is a distorted ditty – and it’s the ditties that keep up Outside. There’s the ominous in the following "Language" and "Future Markets", sweet & sad sways "Littered Coins" and "Holidays", cheery & relaxed "Maybe Now?" and "Go Outside", plus some psych in "Winter Song" and "Boats", and even straight-up odd fellows in "See You All Around" and crazy closer "Negative Thinking Patterns". However, the group never really truly masters anything – the psych goes on too long (especially the unnecessary thirty-plus seconds of blank space at the end of penultimate "Boats"), while sweet sways are also simple.
It may never be easy to get a handle on the odd kids from Edmonton that make up Hot Panda. But it’s still interesting to try.
MP3 Stream: "Go Outside"
