Dragons That Make Love To Pandas – ‘Roundabouts EP’ [Review]
Their name might evoke images of seedy backstreet Chinatown massage parlours, but Dragons That Make Love To Pandas offer much more than just happy endings. Every moment on Roundabouts is masterfully tuned to elicit maximum pleasure of a different sort – the kind of excitement that comes from having one’s auditory cortex stimulated by a unique combination of stylistic elements. DTMLTP drop ska, math, guitar-pop and more into the musical equivalent of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, and what emerges is appropriately awe-inspiring.
More than anything, the guitar is the star here (see Ripping Skug‘s reverb-soaked licks and Wasps‘ soulful yet bizarre arpeggios for proof), but as obvious as the nods to Guthrie Govan, Joe Satriani, and Biffy Clyro finger-twister Simon Neil are, they are not DTMLTP’s sole selling point. Remove the axe wizardry and you’ll still find plenty to tickle your ear-hairs; for all their virtuosity DTMLTP still know how to craft and deliver a great song. I doubt it’ll be long before these guys start giving the likes of In Dynamics, Signals, Maxi Curnow, and maybe even Arcane Roots a serious run for their money.
Links / Listen
DTMLTP on Facebook and Twitter.
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