Panda & Angel

Panda & Angel EP

[3/5] Panda & Angel are probably sick of fans and critics describing their sound as “melancholy,” but if the shoe fits… Unsurprisingly, they seem comfortable in slow-burning, restrained songs (“Mexico,” “China,” “Following The Death Of Her”), but the band work best when they show force. “Dangerous” sports a propulsive rhythm and hooky guitars, evidence proving the band can vary their approach. Too bad that track is followed by “China,” an unbearably mopey song constructed around an acoustic guitar and singer Carrie Murphy’s voice. While her voice lurks in lower registers and occasionally sounds flat because of it, when she reaches a bit (as on “Ohio December 24th”), the technique works in her favor. Bright spots like that make this EP promising-let’s see if they go someplace interesting from here. (JADE TREE) Kyle Ryan