A fierce panda presentation
The Bands: VARIOUS
The Release: THE LICENSED TO DRILL EP
The Formats: SIX(ISH)-TRACK COMPILATION EP ON DOWNLOAD & LIMITED EDITION COMPACT DISC
The Release Date: JUNE 14th 2010
The Catalogue Number: NING 230
The Pre-Order Link: roughtrade.com
The Tracklisting:
1.WHITE BELT YELLOW TAG Ode
2.TWIN TIGERS Automatic
3.THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT Exploding Eyes
4.SIR YES SIR Your Recent Hits
5.MABEL LOVE Misunderstood
6.LADYDOLL You Know Best
7.FRANCE & THE HABSBURGS Photographic Heart
8.BURN BEFORE READING Markers

The Concept: on February 24th 1994 fierce panda casually released the Shagging In The Streets EP, which featured six New Wave Of New Wave-ish bands (see These Animal Men, S*M*A*S*H, et al) sprawled across a pair of 7¬ù singles. This inadvertently set the panda agenda for years to come as the recklessly-titled likes of Shock And Oar, Clooney Tunes and Otter Than July defied the laws of language whilst showcasing dozens of eager new turns.
But people change. They always do. A decade down the line the panda started concentrating on album releases by Death Cab For Cutie, Art Brut, The Raveonettes, Hatcham Social, The Walkmen and Goldheart Assembly. And indie, in its most commercial sense, went mainstream. In an alternative world where Johnny Borrell dated a Hollywood starlet, Pete Doherty was a tabloid pin-up and major label deals were ten apenny the world had no need of the pandas six track eccentricities. Until now.
And by now we mean February 22nd 2010 when, after a six year hiatus and the collapse of the guitar-based corporate rock economy, fierce panda returned to the classic six-track compilation notion with the Zip It Up EP, featuring six-ish brrrrrrand new bands with a penchant for the more intellectual things in life and the odd floppy fringe and names like The Crookes, The Heartbreaks and Hoodlums; Brilliant Mind, The Molotovs, Sketches and Ideals. They had fun. So did we.
So much so, in fact, that June 2010 sees indie lightning strike twice on the fierce panda golfing clubhouse with the release of another six(ish)-track EP, this time called Licensed To Drill. The catalogue number is NING 230, ergo the traditional gruesome wordplay in the title which stems from the quite-frankly-seminal Chinese dentist joke (punchline: ?ìhis appointment was at tooth-hurty¬ù).
And heres where the funny story ends, for while the Zip It Up EP took its cue from the sparky pop likes of Orange Juice the Licensed To Drill EP is a somewhat tighter shade of pale saints ‚ less Rip It Up and more You Trip Me Up, perhaps. Certainly there is a grumpy, grungy edge to these proceedings as the six-ish bands emerge from the shadows to deliver some brooding alternorock with the odd chaotic outburst and the even odder mighty sonic youth boom thrown in for moody measure. Some of these bands have already released their own albums. For four of these groups this here EP sees their debut recorded appearance in the UK. Together they are much, much darker, my love.
Like the Zip It Up EP Licensed To Drill is released as a cheery DIY compact disc limited to 230 numbered copies and as a download bundle available for a frankly itunes-tastic £2.49 for all eight tracks. What also ties in with the Zip It Up EP is the sense that far away from Fearne Cottons cottontail playlist the glowering basslines and towering melodies of the Licensed To Drill EP prove that all is as it should be in the underground¬¶

The launch gigs: THURSDAY MAY 27TH LONDON KINGS CROSS LEXINGTON (Club Panda)
WHITE BELT YELLOW TAG + MABEL LOVE + BURN BEFORE READING

TUESDAY JUNE 8TH LONDON HIGHBURY BUFFALO BAR (Club Fandango)
THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT + SIR YES SIR + LADYDOLL

www.fiercepanda.co.uk

THE LICENSED TO DRILL BANDS
in anti-alphabetical order
WHITE BELT YELLOW TAG are a titanic trio from the North Of Englandshire whove been ruffling the feathers of the underworld over the past eighteen months with their thunderous enormodoom pop boomings. The Ode EP track is borrowed from their current Methods album (Distiller Records) which is ?ìHeaving with hurt, portent and downhome northern vocals,¬ù according to the NME.
www.myspace.com/whitebeltyellowtag

TWIN TIGERS are from Athens, GA. Clocked by the panda spies at this years SXSW they play big bendy dreampop which is fierce and freaked out and generally parties like its 1991 in the Creation Records HQ. Automatic, their first ever UK release, is purloined from their Gray Waves album (Old Flame Records) in the US, a land where Twin Tigers do groovy things like touring with The Hold Steady and Interpol, although not at the same time.
www.myspace.com/thetwintigers

THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT are three men and one girl bass player from Norway. The Megasonic Thrust might be a more appropriate name, such is the quartets way with a tortured Telecaster. On stage they play their first song like its their last and their last song like its the end of the world. On record they will be re-releasing the A Thousand Years Of Deconstruction album on August 2nd (Deadly Records).
www.myspace.com/megaphonicthrift

SIR YES SIR are three young men from Manchester who bring the pop-tastic panic attacks to the panda party with their jittery verses and their great big whooooooshing sonically youthful explosions in the melodic sky. Your Recent Hits is taken from their extremely imminent debut album.
www.myspace.com/siryessiryessir

MABEL LOVE are four young men from Sheffield whore currently causing a sinister stir in the industrys A&R regions with a sound which skulks in the lengthy shadows of the Bunnymen, the Bad Seeds and flag-waving era U2. Misunderstood is the suitably moody track they have donated to the Licensed To Drill EP. It is their first ever release.
www.myspace.com/mabellovemusic

LADYDOLL are three men and one girl bass player from Dublin who play buoyant indiegrungepop which nods at musenirvanaandplacebo before swerving off for a romp into the pop bushes. They have released the The Knife Thrower And His Wife album in Ireland and rather handily, their EP track You Know Best is being used to soundtrack beer commercials at home.
www.myspace.com/ladydollband

FRANCE & THE HABSBURGS are from Sunderland and play a scowling post-punk noise which has been described as ?ìsounding like a lost package from 1982 thats only just reached its destination 27 years later.¬ù. Keeping it a) fresh and b) in the North-Eastern family their Photographic Heart track was produced by Pete Gofton from Frankie & The Heartstrings about two weeks ago.
www.myspace.com/franceandthehabsburgs

BURN BEFORE READING are four young men from Guildford who play drivingly intense indierock which is casually littered with the odd terrifically bionic chorus. One of those bionic choruses is on the song Markers, which just so happens to be Burn Before Readings contribution to the EP.
www.myspace.com/burnbeforereadingband