Band profile:
Panic Channel
Panikku Channeru: the VK side
PANIC*ch: the oshare sideBand lineup:
(VK pic, from left to right)
Guitar: Tsubasa
Bass: Tara
Vocalist: MEGURU
Guitar: Kana
Drums: Takumi
(oshare pic, from left to right)
Tara, Tsubasa, MEGURU, Takumi and Kana (both Tara-chan and Takumi-chan look so cute in skirts! *____*)
Panic Channel defines itself as a "nimensei gakutai", which has been very awkwardly translated by their company as "2nd page nature species band" (honestly, when I first saw that English caption in my Shoxx magazine, I thought that Panic Channel was some newfangled environmentally-conscious indies band... -___-").
Actually, a clearer translation would be "a band with two faces/sides". PANIC*ch is cutesy and dresses up in oshare fashion, and they play happy, bouncy pop-rock tunes. But when Panikku Channeru appears, the music gets darker, harder and noiser and the make-up gets scarier.
Panic Channel was first formed in 2002 with Yuusuke as the drummer instead of Takumi. The latter came on board in 2004 when Yuusuke left the band. And in 2005, Panic Channel underwent a major crisis when Tara left the band due to his failing health, and Tsubasa and Takumi followed soon after. MEGURU and Kana found new members and Panic Channel was revived with MAYO on guitar, kiri on bass and KYO~YA on drums. If I'm not wrong, Tara and Tsubasa, now renamed Toki, are currently playing together in another band.
The pop-rock songs of Panic Channel are generally energetic, somewhat-sappy pieces about young love, with the signature silly dialogue in the middle of the song. My favourite is Pink Cherry (from their Shinjinsen mini-album), a song written entirely in ENGRISH and utterly incomprehensible, whether you look at the lyrics or not. Here's the youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNvo3Lq5fus
(Before I checked the lyrics, I thought MEGURU was singing about creamy sundaes... have a look at the PV and you'll know why.)
At first, the musical distinction between the two sides was not very clear but it has been growing clearer in recent years. The VK rock songs are a little too similar at times, many of them with heavy chords and MEGURU going "OI! OI! OI!" and "YAUYAUYAUYAUUU!!!" in his raspy, growly way. That's why my favourite Panikku song is "Clear" (also from Shinjinsen), which proves that a song does not have to have droning guitars, growling and screaming in order to be a good VK rock song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtmGEATspFc
Music-wise, I don't think the style of the new Panic Channel differs very much from the old Panic Channel just before the three Ts left. But they have released only four songs so far so it's a bit difficult to tell. Obviously, latecomer to indies bands that I am, I'm more familiar with the second lineup (not the one with Yuusuke, who seems like a pervert, by the way). I like both the oshare and the VK sides of Panic Channel, but the cute oshare side seems more natural to them.
Although Panic Channel is definitely not the next Diru, the band concept is interesting ("Panic Channel" is supposed to refer to switching unexpectedly between the 2 sides of the band, like a TV that has gone out of control). The VK rock songs are hard enough to headbang to on a bad day and the pop-rock songs are bouncy enough to cheer one up on a... bad day again??
If you want to know more about Panic Channel, you can visit their official site at http://www.panic-ch.com and check out Panic! Attack, a superb English fansite at http://www.rushedblue.com/panic/
Acknowledgements to Panic! Attack for the pictures.
kaoru said at 11:37 PM