“Bring earplugs and be ready for fireworks,” says Melissa Koehl, guitarist of Chicago-based Panther Style, talking about the band’s eponymous new EP. Along with fellow bandmates Jeanne McClure (lead vocals, bass), Al Rodis (guitar) and Dan Lutger (drums), the eclectic four-piece are veterans of the Midwest scene having collectively logged time in indie and DIY rock acts Mary Tyler Morphine, Dyslexic Apaches, Siderunners and Reptoids, where Koehl would later ask Jeanne and Dan to join.
Drawn together by a love of The Cult, Failure, The Posies, New Order, U2, Van Halen, and Chicago legends Naked Raygun, the quartet behind Panther Style have cultivated a palette of groovy riff rock that’s as heavy as it is dancey, and as reliant on rhythm as it is distortion. Or, as McClure likes to call it, “A mix of UK Merseyside shoe gazer greatness and solid cock rock. The best of both worlds.”
Within the heavy themes, there are also moments of levity and joy such as a cover of The Cult’s “Love Removal Machine”. A barn-burner featuring Adam Gimenez of Iron Point on keyboards, one of a few key personnel on the album that helped the band push any boundaries to end up in unchartered waters and with a renewed sense of purpose.
Another was Greg Norman who engineered the record with Panther Style from the hallowed halls of Electrical Audio, the studio founded by legendary musician/engineer Steve Albini, where the walls talk of stories recording albums for the likes of Nirvana, the Pixies, The Jesus Lizard and many more beyond-holy artists. “I will never forget that experience,” says Lutger. “I’ve never felt more connected to the band. Electrical is all about capturing the band as much or more than the song itself.”
McClure agrees, “I feel like this record is even more collaborative than the last one. Everyone involved really got their chance to shine."
A final key was Marshall Gallagher who mixed the new material while not on the road or recording with his own band, Teenage Wrist. “Marshall helped us more than anyone we’ve ever recorded with, to polish our sound in a way we never thought could happen”, says Lutger. “It was a dream come true to be able to work with him.” Teenage Wrist themselves are inspired by the 90s alternative sound that members of Panther Style played in clubs back in the 90s. Gallagher also remixed “Fingers Crossed” from the band’s previous LP, ¡Emergencia!, which appears on the new EP. He has also mixed Volume II of the upcoming Repotoids double EP release, Invasion.
The EP also features a new mix by famed Ratt and Alice Cooper producer, Beau Hill, of ¡Emergencia!’s “Seeing… Just Not Believing." “Beau reached out after a radio station tipped him off about us and that track and he wanted to do a mix of it. Being an enormous Ratt fanatic I was floored. Of course, we jumped at the chance.” says Lutger.
