Her Space Holiday may not be the hippest music around (or maybe it is, I'm not sure I can tell anymore) but I like it. A lot. XOXO, Panda and the New Kid Revival is a great record to plug in as the summer comes to a close. Light up the grill, put on a bright sun-dress, take off your shoes and dance along! “The Boys and Girls” just might be the best pop song you'll hear all year. With it's chorus of “tra-la-la” and “bom-ba-ba-bom” and stomping, clapping melody it has on more than one occasion nearly caused me to wreck from joy while driving and listening.
Her Space Holiday is a band like my old, perpetually single uncle is a family. It is the moniker of Marc Bianchi who writes all the songs and makes most of the sounds. He's like the indie version of Billy Corgan, but less cranky.
They say previous efforts were more electronica, but here it is a lo-fi indie rock - filling the sounds-cape with acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, glockenspiel, bass and drums he's created a lovely, immensely fun piece of music.
Lyrically the songs are a bit melancholy filled with heartache and loss but also give a sense of hope. Bianchi proves he is just as innovate and interesting with the words and he is filling up the songs with interesting instrumentation.
I've not heard any of his previous work, but with XOXO, Panda and the New Kid Revival I'm hoping he has a long career filled with indie-pop pieces like this. It might not make me hip to say that, but I'll take this record over being hip any day of the week.
Article comments
1 - Carmen
Whether it's "cool" or not definitely should not make a difference. Who even cares when you're an adult? What makes you feel good, what makes you want to move, what makes your thoughts come into focus, what helps you get through something, all of those things are the only things that matter. I'm crazy in love with the XOXO, Panda album and not ashamed to admit it... no matter how many cynical stuck up writers want to talk smack. :)