Hot Panda
Album: Volcano…Bloody Volcano
Label: Mint Records
Rating: ***

Hot Panda are certainly enthusiastic — picture them as mop-topped 10-year-olds, bouncing on a mini trampoline as they play. The Edmonton-based band and its keyboard-driven, danceable indie-pop combine the tempo switch-ups and vocal styles of groups like the Clips and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!. They push up the rhythmic elements: Onomatopoeia singing, staccato percussion, and oompa basslines drive catchy tracks like Holes and Cold Hands/Chapped Lips. But at times some melodies meander into “fun-time freak-outs,” and the band comes off like a goofier, less taut Born Ruffians. The thumping breakdowns, punchy vocals and grooves on tracks like Whale-Headed Girl show us the energy; now the boisterous gang just needs to reign it in.

On the web
www.myspace.com/hotttpanda

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