By Ibn-Umar Abbasparker of Indie Band Guru
If you mix catchy vocals, infectious guitar hooks and rhythmic dance beats, what do you get?
You get Cellspace, the newly released debut album from San Francisco-based Panic Is Perfect. This album incorporates a wide range of musical influences that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. At the same time, its unique sound offers all future listeners, whatever their preference may be, something to gravitate towards and enjoy.
Panic Is Perfect is a collaboration between friends/musicians Jeremy Belzer and Mike Hoffman. While currently based in San Francisco, they formed the project while living and traveling through Southern India.
That wasn’t the only destination for these globe-trotters. Belzer, after college, spent time living in Thailand, China, India, and South Korea while writing and recording music. Meanwhile, Hoffman lived in rural Ghana, learning the ways of West African tribal drumming. Eventually, they settled in the Bay Area where they added Ty Parker, David Monzon, and Joey Hassid to the project to complete their live band.
“You’re Alive” celebrates the subtle joy of being alive and living life to the fullest. Its bright synth harmonies, bouncy guitar riffs, and percussive beats fills listeners with the urge to get up, jump around, and dance. Similarly, “Go Go Go” showcases Belzer and Hoffman’s ebullient vocal melodies paired with upbeat rhythms and loud riffs to inspire that same energy and enthusiasm.
In contrast, there’s “Nothing’s Wrong with It.” In this song, the group criticizes the confinement and conformity ingrained within the music business in a catchy, creative way. Equally creative is “The Mailman,” a short and honest tribute to one of America’s most underappreciated and unsung heroes, the mailman. With lyrics like “It’s a lifestyle being paid to deliver,” listeners are offered an alternative viewpoint on the life of a postal service worker.
Lastly, there’s “Glow”, a soft-toned, synth-heavy ballad. With a comforting tone and sweet, simple lyrics such as “I want to see you glow”, the song’s intentions are clear. It seeks to remind us of those little moments shared between lovers where they just want to see each other smile and laugh.
Cellspace is an announcement of Panic Is Perfect’s unique style of blended indie-pop. And the announcement says that they’re on the scene and they’re not going anywhere. Stick around and you won’t be disappointed.
