Self-released, March 13, 2020
Panic Problem digs into anxiety on a throwback pop punk record.
Baltimore's Panic Problem are pretty on the nose with their name. They dig into a bunch of anxiety issues while holding tight to some pop punk tunes. And their kind of pop punk isn't much rooted in the sound of Ramones or Lookout! Records (my typical soft spot). Instead, it's a lot closer to the bouncy emo-laden midwestern pop punk that was bubbling up around the turn of the century. In the process, they sound like they could fit on any Vagrant Records sampler alongside bands like Get Up Kids. In fact, Get Up Kids is a great comparison in a bunch of ways. And on Just Calm Down, Panic Problem pull off their thing with some pretty decent songs.
My favorite stuff on Just Calm Down keeps the pace up and the hooks catchy. Opener “Time Flies” has some cool lead guitar and a bass that carries the melody, and then everything takes off to a catchy chorus of “we lie, we say we're fine” that has both personal (intended) and societal (likely unintended) implications. It's bouncy and fast and a bunch of energetic, albeit depressive, fun. “You And Me Vs. The World” drops some stuttered guitar before a few bangs and a similar take off. Again the chorus is going to get a bunch of people yelling along. Elsewhere, “I Hate Tuesdays” has an engaging vocal cadence and a bunch of difficult, uplifting, and insightful lyrics like “I watch the sunrise from my bed, I shake these demons from my head” and “I know I stand, but not alone”. They even throw in a lot of “whoa-oh” Misfits-style backing vocals (and I'm certainly a sucker for that). Even “What Are You Doing Chi?” gets going after a bit. Following a stuttered and just okay verse, the chorus gets all sugar rushed and singalongable with the “I'd rather burn out than just spin” refrain. The common thread for my favorite stuff on here is that it reminds me fondly of Four Minute Mile.
A couple drags pop up on Just Calm Down, but nothing too egregious. “The Grind” is okay and the chorus has a decent hook, but the sort of contemplative and tamed bridge part doesn't land right for me and kind of sucks the momentum from the song. I'd mostly say the same for “Stormy Weather”. It's an okay song with some decent ear-catching parts, but at four-plus minutes, it's not quite concise enough for my tastes.
The good news is that the stuff that doesn't hit right for me isn't so off that I'd get up and move the needle ahead. The bad news is that the stuff that does hit pretty right would've hit a lot more right when I was younger. Oh well, I'm old. At the end of the day, Just Calm Down is a pretty good pop punk record that does well in it's tackling of mental health issues. And Panic Problem's ability to tie those messages to some pretty hooky and energetic music means this one's likely to find a pretty devoted audience.
You might like this if:
- You love the old Vagrant Records bands and think we're about due for a reboot of that stuff
You might not if:
- The Vagrant Records stuff wasn't your kind of punk rock in the first place…this ain't gonna change your mind
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.