Cruel Guards - Reviews

Reviews

• "Opening with strings straight out of an Ennio Morricone score, Cruel Guards announces a change of pace for The Panics. The Five Piece have consistently delivered beautiful spare rock throughout their career, but with the lush pianos, strings and layered guitars of this their third full length album, they’ve beefed up their production without sounding overblown. "Don’t Fight It" is resplendent with hooky trumpets, while the harmonica laced title track see front man jae laffer affirm his place as a deft, poetic lyricist. Consistent throughout, Cruel Guards straddles the divide between pop and rock with arrangements that reflect the 12 months spent shaping the set. During closer "Sundowner", complete with swelling strings, Laffer lets us know he “spent six months looking for the rest of the rhyme”, a labour that has paid off in full. The Panics have an impressive back catalogue well worth investigating, but for their best, most cohesive work, look no further than this record." - Rolling Stone Magazine (Australia) (Daniel Findley)
• "Opening with a theatrical drum roll, "Get us Home", the first track from The Panics third album, channels the essence of a spaghetti western soundtrack so well you half expect to hear a whip crack, while the other tracks especially "Feeling is Gone" and "Live Without", take their cues closer to home, specifically The Triffids and The Go-Betweens. The later comparison is especially resonant because of front man Jae Laffer’s songwriting, which has evolved to deliver highly evocative vignettes of which messrs McComb, McLennan and Foster would be proud. Another song bearing Ennio Morricone flourishes, “Something in the Garden” is almost gothic, while The Verve like pop gospel of first single "Don’t Fight It" is the clearest display of the Perth bands fearlessness. The Panics have pulled back some of their trade mark glistening layers to reveal the strongest elements of each song, whether they be a string melody or Laffer’s lyrics. Brimming with confidence and backed by the formidable label in Dew Process, The Panics could be the home grown success story of 2007. They certainly deserve to be." - The West Australian (Simon Collins)
• "In essence, Cruel Guards should be the Panics’ second album. Although history asserts that the country-influenced Sleeps Like a Curse LP of 2005 possesses this distinction, the Melbourne-based four piece have taken their old style and seemingly most of their label’s money, and created the string-laden masterpiece which typically signals a gradual descent into obscurity. The only difference between Cruel Guards and the myriad of similarly-intended second albums throughout the past is that it works. And that it’s not a second album, but that’s another story. The first half hour of Cruel Guards presents a cavalcade of classics, with standout tracks Get Us Home and Don’t Fight It either brilliant examples of pop at its most perfect, or shamelessly plagiarized from long-lost AM radio staples of the 90s. Either way, they form the spine of an exceptional album from an ever-improving outfit. There can be little question that Cruel Guards pushes the Panics further towards the surface of Australia’s top acts. Straight to the point, soaring and glorious, Cruel Guards is, at worst, the Panics’ best album yet, and, at best, one of the finest albums of the year." - Buzz Magazine
• "It wouldn’t have been surprising to see Perth’s The Panics slip off the radar had they not come up with something fresh on their third album. Drinks all round then, since Cruel Guards is mightily pleasing to the ear while maintaining the basic understated guitar jangle and floating vocals of their two earlier albums and EPs. Two improvements are apparent. One is the production, by Scott Horsecroft, which concentrates on bringing out the poppier elements of the five piece band’s sounds. The other feature is a more commanding presence vocally and lyrically from frontman Jae Laffer. There are echoes of Dave McComb and The Church in Laffer’s Australiana and nasal whine, but more importantly he’s more of a presence, a focal point, here than before. There are several fantastic sings. The opening "Get us Home", for example is a glorious merging of 60s pop strings and harmonies set against the Australian landscape, while the poppy mood is offset by the more melancholy title track and the closing Sundowner. Best of the lot, though, is "Don’t Fight It", a horn driven pop classic that will surely usher The Panics into the big time." - The Australian (Ian Shedden)
• "Cruel Guards blends contagiously catchy, sun-soaked melodies and basic, chilled out pop rock; it is definitely one for the summer. The slide guitar and subtle hammond organ on tracks like Ruins sounds like it could be from any of The Shins’ back catalogue (no easy feat) and the riff on Creak is so addictive you’re sure to be humming it for hours. The strings, trumpet and organ are ever present and help to give the album a timeless sound that is sometimes reminiscent of The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul/Revolver era or The Vines‘ softer side. Don’t Fight It, the band's first single off the album is a very catchy and accomplished song (as evident by its recent airtime success with support from Radio 2 and XFM), though I feel that you also need to listen to tracks like Ruins or Creaks to give you a better idea of the band’s overall sound. The title track is a sophisticated and moving piano-led piece whilst Something In The Garden really brings out the country rock feel that is discretely present throughout the record and seems to have traces of some America or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young tracks. Cruel Guards has already been well received in Australia picking up a string of awards including an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) for Best Adult Contemporary Album. This is a great record and it’s only a matter of time before The Panics are making the headlines in the UK." - Music.Virgin.Com (Tom Sowerby)