Pandas & People
I feel like I review a weird amount of bluegrass and Americana, especially since it kind of has its roots in the Appalachians. Maybe it's just mountain music. I guess, that's really when I listen to it the most; winding through high country valleys and looking down from mountain passes. It just feels like the soundtrack of the hills.
Years back I spent a lot of summer weekends in vans with ten other sweaty unwashed people driving from festival to festival to see bands like this. Like this. But this is better. For starters, I don't have to drive across the state to see them and then, their songs are shorter than 15 minutes— bonus points.
Pandas & People may seem like an unlikely moniker for a good ol' Americana hootenanny but they nail it. Their musical style is a little hard to pin down, so I filed it under that large lacy parasol of Americana. But, whether you listen to country, bluegrass, jam or indie, Pandas & People fits in somewhere.
This FoCo band keeps the audience singing along with the hooks, hopping around to some crazy banjo plucking, and feeling like they're kids again if only for the night. The vocals are spot on and the harmonies absolutely delightful. Lyrics may seem a little light and fluffy, but that's what summer music is all about— putting a smile on your face that drowns your worries. Worries are for winter.
Seriously now, if you feel like dancing like no one is watching under the open sky, don't miss this. It's the perfect soundtrack for it.