Consisting of William Keegan, Danny Bengston and Erik Jimenez, Together Pangea have carved their name into the pillars of indie rock across the last decade. With each of their three albums came a slightly different focus, from the fervid grungey clamour of debut Badillac through stadium-ready choruses and stranger, more experimental pop styles.
Their latest record, DYE, feels like the culmination of this career, taking elements from the preceding releases to create the definitive Together Pangea sound. The emotional resonance and noisy weight of Badillac is back, the foundation upon which the band build using parts of their other albums, be it the introspective experimentation of Bulls and Roosters or the retro pop energy of Living Dummy. The result will please fans old and new alike, a collection of songs staying true to the roots of the band while charging full steam ahead into some new future.
Take latest single, ‘Rapture’. Rising from a confident guitar strum and marching drum beat, the track taps into the runaway energy of the contemporary moment, strutting with real attitude and accelerating into a chorus of throaty barks and yelps. Thematically the sound fits, the song focusing on the ongoing climate collapse and the eschatological connotations such a process holds. Together Pangea set their sights on those who welcome this breakdown, folk who find meaning in the fear and fury of the end of the world.
You think it’s part of a plan, part of a plan for you
It’s superstition baby, keep your religion from me
It’s not some king returning, it’s just a country burning
Settle up while you are living, in the end there’s no accountingYou said you want me to trust, you want me trust in you
It’s already enough, there’s nothing I trust in you
The song comes complete with a video by Derek Perlman and Jeremiah Durian-Williams which puts stark images to these themes. “People have become so desensitized to the climate crisis,” the band explain. “We hear about and see images of natural disasters associated with the worsening climate situation so often that most of us have developed a callus to it.” The video aims to shock us out of this paralysis and reinject the apocalyptic urgency of the moment.
DYE is out on the 22 October and you can pre-order it now from the Together Pangea Bandcamp page.
