P:ano Are Back in All Their Glory on "Hollow Stars"

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BY Alex HudsonPublished Aug 15, 2023

P:ano's 2005 album Brigadoon is on my Mount Rushmore of Vancouver indie rock records from the 2000s (alongside Mass Romantic, Streethawk: A Seduction and Hastings Sunrise, if you were wondering), so I'm thrilled that they're back with their first recording in 17 years.

"Hollow Stars" is a cover of a song by the Beans, and it finds the band jamming on a hypnotic bassline for the entire seven-and-a-half-minute runtime. They group-sing a wordless phrase as the arrangement gradually swells, blending cabaret pop lavishness with post-rock formlessness, featuring meandering horns, flourishes of hand percussion and scritchy-scratchy guitar echoes.

Singer-songwriter Nicholas Krgovich has hinted that the band have been working on more new material together, and I can't wait to hear what else they have in store.


 
(Zum Records)

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