Panic Pocket wants to be honest with you

By Henry Lipput

The arrangements for the songs on Panic Pocket’s debut album Mad Half Hour (Skep Wax Records) alternate between 60’s girl groups and Liz Phair’s 90’s girl and a guitar. But unlike the girl groups, Phair’s songs were much more honest in their depiction of the relationship between the sexes while Panic Pocket’s songs by this London-based four piece have issues with both sexes.

“Still The Bad Guy” is an updating of the Emperor’s New Clothes with the idea that changing your mental outlook (if only on the surface) doesn’t make you a different or a better person. Its retro sound is a contrast to the song’s accusations: “Think you’ve made amends?/Truly believe you’re born again?/You’re no ally/You’re still the bad guy.” It’s like the guy who suddenly decides to throw in some lines about supporting women’s rights as a way to get a date.

In “Boyfriend” a hoped-for girl’s night out turns sour when an old friend brings along her significant other. “Booked a table for two/I was only expecting you.” Turning the tables on how a man refers to a woman, the boyfriend is called “the ball and chain.” But the friend doesn’t get it: “They say three’s a crowd/Do I have to say it out loud?”

“Say You’re Sorry” is another song about an evening’s honest conversation. With its Ronettes-style vocals and arrangement, a woman starts out the evening by letting her date know how worthless she’s been made to feel: “I’m gonna make you feel the same way.” And she’s going do this by making him feel sorry for even showing up: “I wanna see you with your head in your hands/I wanna make you wish you’d made other plans.”

The opening track, “Get Me,” has the strongest Exile in Guyville vibe with its crunchy lead guitar and angry vocal. It’s not clear if she’s talking to a friend or if she’s having a conversation with herself (which is my take) about having taken a wrong turn: “Just hold that smile/We’re not on trial/That way’s the door/When I count to four.”