Cruel Guards

About

The Panics had two albums of ruminative guitar pop to their name before 2007’s <i>Cruel Guards</i>, but this is the one where everything truly clicked into place. It was the Perth band’s first record since moving cross-country to Melbourne, and also its first with producer Scott Horscroft, who earned two ARIA Award nods for his panoramic work here. The Panics’ collective songwriting proved sharper than ever, too, led by Jae Laffer’s soulful murmur and smattered with moody piano, horns, and strings. The lyrics play like quiet character studies full of writerly detail: Observe the lonely kitchen described as a tomb on the softly twangy “Ruins.” Informed by the band’s relocation, “Creaks” muses on distance and homesickness while “Something In the Garden” cites a weatherboard shack on stilts amid its reverb-soaked domestic drama. The centerpiece, though, is “Don’t Fight It,” which became The Panics’ biggest-selling single and signature tune. Evoking Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia,” it’s a simmering ballad that especially shows off the depth of Horscroft’s production colors. Laffer has continued to develop his exacting lyrical focus in the years since this record, embarking on a fruitful solo career in tandem with the band’s slowing output.

via Apple Music