DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! is Paul Costuros, Chris Dixon and Kim West - a trio of San Franciscan noise deliquents, featuring members of Crack: We Are Rock, T.I.T.S, Murder Murder and Total Shutdown.

They add a cartoonish sense of drama to the trad Bay Area post-punk sound, using nothing more than a flute, a pitchshifted clarinet, a drum kit and a whole lotta hollering. Their music draws heavily on traditional Chinese and Korean folk music, ragtime, New Orleans-style marching bands and good ol' hardcore punk.

'INSECTS AWAKEN'

Exit Villager

UTR022 | Digipack CD | 14 tracks, 42 mins | 29 Sept 2008 | Buy

Arise and awaken! All who thirst for the sweet nectar of discontent. Let the light of 1000 paper lanterns shine upon furrowed brows of the angst ridden, the nervous and the artistically repressed and light the causeway as to venture forward towards a new nation.

Hear the buzzing of animals far away through the rushes on the riverside. March forward to a great, new leap. Explode into a youthful movement not seen since the decade following the Great War, the War to End All Wars, it's chaos and decadence littering the fields and valleys with gore, emptiness and cold emotions. Against this! We are.

For Death Sentence: Panda! offers a bold statement - HARMONY, LIFE, STRENGTH and REVENGE!!!!!!!

This document, recorded by the band itself in a house with many books, is finally declared! Mixed with Philip Manley (Trans Am, Oneida, Golden) in a clandestine location not far from the previously mentioned, library-like dwelling.

Inspired by and dedicated to Champions far and near, friends and foes alike, 'Insects Awaken' is, in fact, the sound of a wasp's sting to the tongue rewarded with the delicious gift of coconut ice cream.

'FESTIVAL OF GHOSTS / R'OUT 4,002'

Here Come The Ghosts | Slumber Party

UTR007 | 12" | 10 tracks, 20 mins | 29 Jan 2007 | Buy

'Festival Of Ghosts / R'out 4,002' is an album of two halves! The first 'Festival of Ghosts' is just that - songs for and about ghosts, except for "Mr. Chip", which is a song about a triumphant rabbit.

Oozing with hypnotic percussive clanging, howling sax and scrambled experimentation, the opener "Here Come The Ghosts" is a haunted call to arms summoning all spirits in earshot to march in union with Nature's heartbeat. It marks a move towards looser song structures and instrumentation for the group - bells, trombone and even shoes all feature, as songs run in unpredictable directions and echo with dub delay, making for a supernatural listening experience.

The second half of the record 'R'out 4,002' consists of tracks taken from the band's 2004 tour-only CDR, remastered by Orthlorng Musork's Joshua Kit Clayton. 'R'out 4,002' is the sound of hardcore with its fangs beared - songs creep and sprint, shock and enliven with their savage cacophony.

"Slumber Party" and "Tribal Boyfriend" are both brutally bratty, whilst "Yao Yao Tou" is a kinetic barrage of pitchshifted clarinet blurts and clattering pans, punctuated by the recital of a Mandarin nursery rhyme. The song races at breakneck pace before dissolving into a plaintive flute trance. The reprise couldn't be more different, all foreboding gong grumble, squalls of noise, footfalls and hushed creatures.

Limited to just 1000 copies, the 12" features a heavyweight disc packaged within a 3 colour, hand-screened, recycled cardstock sleeve.

'PUPPY, KITTY OR BOTH'

A+ Cannibal | A Time To Bear Arms

UTR001 | 10" | 8 tracks, 11 mins | 2 May 2005 | Buy

'Puppy, Kitty or Both' is the band's debut release and features 8 feral blasts of unhinged pop and skip'n'stomp dance action! Produced by acclaimed, punk legend Weasel Walter, the songs are nothing short of party anthems for the punk kids.

Yet behind the music lies a clear political message of respect and responsibility - the band take their name from the punishment awarded in China for the slaughter of the endangered bear and approach song subject matter from an environmental, activist angle.