Pirates of Panama – drop “The Chase” EP with kick-ass attitude that can’t be faulted or ignored!

Pirates of Panama is an English rock band, formed in Bournemouth in 2011. After starting out originally as a five piece, the Pirates have now found the perfect core lineup, which consists of, vocalist/bassist Louis Collins and guitarist Ed Van Egan. In 2013, over a period of three months, their self-produced and self-titled EP was recorded. Promotion of the EP was non-stop with the Pirates using social media, gigs and a radio appearance to get word of their debut out. A video for the track “Smokeshow” was also released in the early part of 2014.

Pirates of Panama have played various shows all around the south of England and they also completed a mini-tour of Los Angeles, playing some of the most prestigious venues in the world at the Whiskey A-Go-Go and the House of Blues, bringing overwhelmingly positive responses from those in the audience.

Pirates Of Panama now release their follow-up EP, entitled “The Chase”, out on the 2^nd of October. We listened to a few of the tracks from the Ep, including “Been There Before”, “Go My Own Way” and the title track “The Chase”. Some of the best things about Pirates Of Panama are the guitar licks that smolder, the throaty vocals that drip with passion and power, as well as the songs which are tight roaring rock anthems.

The above mentioned songs resonate with kick-ass attitude that can’t be faulted or ignored. Pirates Of Panama bring back that 80s hair metal vibe and sound somewhere between Warrant, Poison, Skid Row and Slayer. Despite hair metal no longer being “in”, several decades later this kind of music still sounds as fresh to me today as it did back then. This is far removed from Nickleback, Theory of a Deadman or Breaking Benjamin’s modern corporate rock.

This is simple, raw, dirty rock n’ roll as you would have expected to come out of LA in the 80s, and Pirates Of Panama songs like “Go My Own Way” and “The Chase” could sit comfortably next to Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction”, Motley Crue’s “Dr Feelgood” or Poison’s “Open Up and Say Ahh”. Great fun, great energy, great talent!

Pirates Of Panama latest EP has a lot to live up to in order to match the band’s debut effort, however on what I can gather from these first few songs, they will no doubt succeed in doing it. And though the EP is heavy and anthemic by nature, it still manages to be quite melodic at the same time (possibly one of the reasons why it will be as good as I think it will be!).

If you’re into heavy rock or even have the faintest idea of what 80’s hair metal was, you’ll recognize that the Pirates Of Panama hit all the right buttons on “The Chase”. It’s full of energy, raunchy rock and all the things that make you forget about your daily troubles!