STEP-PANTHER
Biography
Step-Panther are an irrepressible shred-rock 'n' garage-pop trio out of Sydney!
At home they've quickly forged a reputation for fun-filled live performances and a
tireless touring schedule, with the rest of the world now starting to sit up and take
notice too. Step-Panther were named by NME as one of the 100 Best New
Bands Of 2012.
Since forming at the tail-end of 2009, Step-Panther have played shows
alongside Yuck, Girls, Kurt Vile, Jeff The Brotherhood, Blood Red Shoes and
more. They've also completed Australian tours with The Vines, Bleeding Knees
Club and Big Scary.
As frantic as their sound, Step-Panther's influences run far and wide. They
wrestle echoes of Jonathan Richman, Weezer, Black Lips, Pavement and more
... sometimes all within the same song! And while they might be hard to pin
down, they're a thrill of a ride while you're with them.
Steve (vocals/guitar), Zach (bass/vocals) and D-Rad (drums/vocals) all met
through working together. As well as now playing in a band together, sometimes
they mind-link and dream together.
Step-Panther sold out three pressings of 2010's self-released debut EP "Surf",
simply through sales at shows and key independent retailers. It spawned the
triple j and public radio favourites "Jimmy" and "Fight Like A Knight".
They followed this up with their debut, self-titled album in November 2011.
Recorded in a tiny garden-shed studio by Simon Berkfinger (ex-Philadelphia
Grand Jury), "Step-Panther" (the album) managed to similarly encapsulate all
that is sensationally schizophrenic about Step-Panther (the band). In awarding it
Indie Album Of The Week, Sydney street press bible The Brag said "There's a
direct link to all the great punk bands - The Stooges, MC5, The Ramones, even
Pavement - in that while the sound is lo-fi and slacker, the songs are tight,
catchy, and incredibly tuneful." The Australian edition of Rolling Stone opined
"Just because a band is ragged and loose doesn't mean it can't be punchy and
high impact."
Step-Panther started 2012 with a SMAC Award nomination for Sydney's Best
Live Music Act, while NME tipped them to "cement the big cat Aussie takeover of
the UK".
In May 2012 they made their maiden trip to the UK, playing slots at the revered
Great Escape Festival in Brighton and Liverpool Sound City, plus supports for
Hunx & His Punx, Fanzine and Bass Drum Of Death. While there, Step-Panther
were snapped up by the legendary Too Pure label for a release in their 7" singles
club.
Its B-side "D-Minus" came in at #9 on Mess+Noise's Best Tracks Of 2012, and
the trio rounded out the year by contributing a cover of The Castaways' "Liar Liar"
to Warner Music's "Nuggets" tribute album alongside Pond, The Laurels, Straight
Arrows and more.
Step-Panther kicked off 2013 by releasing the 4-track EP "Dreamcrusher",
recorded at sessions in Sydney and Berlin. The Brag once again bestowed an
Indie Album Of The Week to the band, and said "Step-Panther exist on that same
continuum as so many of the great garage or punk bands, equally comfortable
with classic pop structure as with grungy guitars and a slacker sensibility, and
they do it all with a real sense of tongue-in-cheek humour and total lack of
pretension."
Their sophomore album "Strange But Nice" is due in August 2014. Produced by
Tom Iansek from Big Scary, it was prefaced in June by first single "Nowhere"
which Faster Louder said is "slacker-pop at its finest – invoking the looseness of
the Feelies and an endearingly shaky vocal – before it lays on the fuzz."
Live and on record, Step-Panther are an ADD rush of fast and furious fun. Hold
on tight!