Red Panda, "Life In Fuzzy"

Red Panda
"Life in Fuzzy"
(Yellowrock)

I'm a little late to the party on this one because the last couple Home Grown recordings weren't all that appealing. Don't get me wrong: I loved Home Grown, particularly when I was in high school, but they were still putting out records as I was well into my 20's and there are only so many songs about juvenile relationships that I could hear about before enough was enough.

Eventually the band broke up and John Tran joined forces with Bill Uechi formerly of Save Ferris and started the Asian-American superband, Red Panda.

Red Panda in itself isn't too stylistically different from either Home Grown or Save Ferris, they rely heavily on really melodic hooks and it's pretty much steeped in pop-punk, though of the keyboard driven variety. That being said, their debut, "Life in Fuzzy," is pretty good.

The record gets off to a rough start with the high school anthem, "Barely Survived," but segues into "Stay the Night," a jam that would've been a much better way to start the album. Other great standout songs include "Desperate and Lonely," "Hospitals," and "In Your Sleep."

There are a lot of comparisons to be drawn between Red Panda and Drive Thru mainstays, Hellogoodbye, though the Reds seem to be steeped more into the pop-punk side of things versus Hellogoodbye's pension for making generic dance tunes.

If you have a chance to pick up "Life In Fuzzy," pick it up; it'll be worth your $13.