Vagina Panther

Despite the attention-grabbing name, Brooklyn, NY's Vagina Panther aren't exactly the most shocking or genre-bending band issuing music today. Which isn't to say their self-titled full-length isn't a wonderful blast of uncompromising rock'n'roll. It's just that with such a powerful moniker, one might expect the "Bon Scott-meets-Glenn Danzig-meets-G.G. Allin" sound they boast of. No way, man. This is music created by some severe Sonic Youth fans who gravitated towards the Kim Gordon rock tracks, smashed that influence together with some Hot Water Music melodic guitars and tossed a set of female lungs over it all to give it a bit of sultry groove. It's art rock with a ballsier swagger than its contemporaries are capable of but it still lacks the awe-inspiring strike of bona fide punk; it's the sort of thing scenesters who saw Hated will find "vicious," while the rest of us smile at its cuteness and continue with our real punk.