Qobuz Store wallpaper
Categories:
Cart 0

Your cart is empty

The Panics|Cruel Guards (+ bonus track)

Cruel Guards (+ bonus track)

The Panics

Available in
16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Subscribe

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

The third album from Australian group the Panics garnered them an ARIA (an Australian equivalent to the Grammy) for best adult contemporary album for a reason. The band constantly moves through new territories, defying a simple definition or a simple parallel to another band. However, they do so while maintaining an excellent, intriguing sound. Frontman Jae Laffer gives a husky delivery that swoons just a bit here and there over the top of a layer of guitar and drums, an occasional bit of keyboard inflection, and depending on the song, a bit of classic Motown-style strings (occasionally replaced by a synth version nostalgic for the Motown sound). The album opens with perhaps the most Motown-heavy piece, handclaps and strings triumphantly announcing the group's entrance. The strings are a little less Motown and a little more Coldplay in "Ruins," and bent a little toward Asian pop in "Creaks." Still, the band itself provides a steady, strong backing, and Laffer provides almost a narrative-style delivery, throaty in its timbre, breathy even. The band tells their stories, touching on the grey areas of pop, alluding to U2 in the rhythm guitar for a moment in "Live Without." They touch on darker beach songs in "Confess," they evoke contemporary Bob Dylan recordings in "Sundowner," with an almost weary, dim delivery but a grandiose chorus movement. The album defies a clear definition other than "adult contemporary," but it's attractive, it's catchy, and it's exploratory all at once. Definitely worth a spin or two.

© Adam Greenberg /TiVo

More info

Cruel Guards (+ bonus track)

The Panics

launch qobuz app I already downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS Open

download qobuz app I have not downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS yet Download the Qobuz app

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $10.83/month

1
Get Us Home
00:04:15

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

2
Ruins
00:03:41

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

3
Creaks
00:04:02

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

4
Don't Fight It
00:05:01

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

5
Feeling Is Gone
00:03:22

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

6
Cruel Guards
00:05:14

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

7
Live Without
00:04:16

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

8
Something In The Garden
00:04:56

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

9
Confess
00:03:59

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

10
Sundowner
00:05:18

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, under exclusive license to Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

11
Sundowner (Banjo Mix)
00:03:50

Drew Wootton, Composer - Myles Wootton, Composer - Paul Otway, Composer - Jules Douglas, Composer - Jae Laffer, ComposerLyricist - The Panics, MainArtist

℗ 2007 Dew Process/Universal Music Australia, unexclusive license to Universal Music Australia Pty Limited

Album review

The third album from Australian group the Panics garnered them an ARIA (an Australian equivalent to the Grammy) for best adult contemporary album for a reason. The band constantly moves through new territories, defying a simple definition or a simple parallel to another band. However, they do so while maintaining an excellent, intriguing sound. Frontman Jae Laffer gives a husky delivery that swoons just a bit here and there over the top of a layer of guitar and drums, an occasional bit of keyboard inflection, and depending on the song, a bit of classic Motown-style strings (occasionally replaced by a synth version nostalgic for the Motown sound). The album opens with perhaps the most Motown-heavy piece, handclaps and strings triumphantly announcing the group's entrance. The strings are a little less Motown and a little more Coldplay in "Ruins," and bent a little toward Asian pop in "Creaks." Still, the band itself provides a steady, strong backing, and Laffer provides almost a narrative-style delivery, throaty in its timbre, breathy even. The band tells their stories, touching on the grey areas of pop, alluding to U2 in the rhythm guitar for a moment in "Live Without." They touch on darker beach songs in "Confess," they evoke contemporary Bob Dylan recordings in "Sundowner," with an almost weary, dim delivery but a grandiose chorus movement. The album defies a clear definition other than "adult contemporary," but it's attractive, it's catchy, and it's exploratory all at once. Definitely worth a spin or two.

© Adam Greenberg /TiVo

About the album

Improve album information

Qobuz logo Why buy on Qobuz?

On sale now...

Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz

Getz/Gilberto Stan Getz

Moanin'

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Moanin' Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Blue Train

John Coltrane

Blue Train John Coltrane

Live In Europe

Melody Gardot

Live In Europe Melody Gardot
More on Qobuz
By The Panics

Rain On The Humming Wire

The Panics

A House On A Street In A Town I’m From

The Panics

Hole In Your Pocket

The Panics

Hole In Your Pocket The Panics

Cruel Guards

The Panics

Cruel Guards The Panics

Factory Girl

The Panics

Factory Girl The Panics

Playlists

You may also like...

Come Away With Me

Norah Jones

Come Away With Me Norah Jones

Crime Of The Century [2014 - HD Remaster]

Supertramp

Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield

Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield

30

Adele

30 Adele

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY

Taylor Swift