Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
What starts with a growl can end in roar that is felt across the savannah, the reverberation of a king’s voice as it alerts to all that its presence is enough to keep all in its vicinity in line and mindful of how they approach the entity that boomed.
As in nature so to the realm of humanity, and in art it is often the sound of the original that is felt loudest in the gut when coming across the source of the emotions stirred, and even in the realm of the electronic interpretation, the so called voiceless, that roar can leave you shuddering with expectation and desire for more.
The sense of the calculated and improvised is that roar as London based trio Pando Pando release their eponymous debut album on an unsuspecting world, and in the midst of the sweltering studio savannah, Alex Bonney, Jem Doulton, and Will Glazer encourage that roar, they supply the thunder from beginning to end, and as the acclaimed musicians push the button of integrity, sincerity, and intrigue in order provide what is more than a rumble from the jungle, it is the never ending storm in Valhalla.
Best described as Avant Garde electronic jazz with undertones of the cabaret, this sense of the future is one to be taken seriously, and as tracks such as the fiercely demanding and ultimately satisfying The Graveyard of Sharks, Fluffy Wires, the homage in name in Eno’s Bathroom, Dolphin Suicide, and the fantastic It Must Have Been The Magpies, Pando Pando release an energy that is more than welcome, it is highly desirable, it is riveting, leaving the listener unsure of where the next note is coming from, but delighted when it arrives and with a flourish of generosity of flavour.
What starts with a roar often sets the Earth quaking, and in Pando Pando’s debut that is the warning of seismic shocks to come.
Pando Pando release their eponymous debut album on 12th April.
Ian D. Hall