Hanoi Janes - Year Of Panic

Hanoi Janes
Year of Panic
(2010, Captured Tracks)
RIYL = The Fresh & Onlys, Blank Dogs, Thomas Function

Listening to Hanoi Janes I can’t get the image out of my head of some frail pack of boys with broken wrists and broken ankles. Haha. I don’t know that says about Year of Panic, the band’s (or, more accurately, Oliver Scharf's) debut LP, but I like it. I really like it. The guitar strings on this album have been wrapped up in pulleys to lift up the sun in the morning, I’ll tell ya. I want to say infinite hooks, and then I want to say white washed to oblivion, and then I want to talk about how the guitars spew glitter, rainbows and flower petals. Is that sufficient? This is music for blasting from your 1988 Ferrari Testarossa convertible (as soon as I can get $64,900, this is exactly what I’m going to do). But, don’t worry, you don’t really need a Ferrari to enjoy this wonky, time worn gem. All you need is an 11 dial on your volume control and some shakin' hips. Seriously, I have nothing to say about this album except that it is the summer of 2010 and why not? I’m ready for some warmth and faded blue skies. Alright, let’s get to the nuts and bolts: Year of Panic - fifteen beautifully wonderfully smiling garage pop gems that musically bedazzle your life, I kid you not.

-Thistle

not on the album, but you'll get the idea...