What has Young Pandas been up to for two years with no official album release?
The popular regional band, formed initially as a “supergroup” made up of members of other celebrated bands from the Northeast region, developed into their own sound over the past several years since getting together to make music that they hoped would be a fresh new sound during a time where Pop music has become incredibly flat and formulaic. In the time since first meeting, having worked with Jason Goldstein of The Roots, produced and written for American Idol finalist Erika Van Pelt, and having shared stages with Bad Rabbits, Outasight, and others, the band has been hard at work crafting this unique vision and, as they claim, not rushing to release any music until they feel they have created something that will put a unique stamp on modern Pop music.
“We all come from different musical backgrounds,” says Kyle Nagel, bassist for the group, “and that adds to the tapestry that is the Young Pandas sound.” Kyle himself was Jazz trained at the now McNally Smith College of Music in Minneapolis, MN. Mike Maven, the noted New England born singer and producer who fronts the group, comes from an R&B and Soul background. “I’ve been a huge Hip Hop fan through all of my artistic growth, and working with Hip Hop artists as a Soul singer has been my passion for years,” says Mike. “But I wanted to lend my voice to something more unique than what has already been done. I wanted my style to be one element of a greater musical picture.”
The Some Beasts EP, available on iTunes this Valentine’s Day, is what the band describes as a straightforward, four song statement of their sound and their intentions moving forward. The record, short but catchy, has incredible replay value of its 25 minute journey through the various influences that make up a single, definable sound that can only be described best as Young Pandas describes themselves: born by the Soul of Prince and Bill Withers, wrapped up in the overtones of Passion Pit and Phoenix.
Fans of the aforementioned bands, as well as fans of The Naked and Famous, Alt J, Jamie Lidell, MGMT, James Blake, St. Lucia, and The 1975 will also enjoy the Some Beasts EP. The album is currently available for pre-order and will be available live on Friday, February 14th at http://bit.ly/SomeBeastsEP and will be streaming in its completion for the first week of the release at http://www.soundcloud.com/youngpandas
