Panthers

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More About

• Jayson Green
• George W. Smith School
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Justin Cherno
• The Cult (Musical Group)

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Panthers -- the George W. Smith School Panthers, to be precise -- were my grade school's official mascots, but I'm pretty sure that these Panthers are exactly the kind of thing our well-meaning teachers and Officers Friendly wanted to protect us from: They're rambunctious, quote Bataille and the Notorious B.I.G., and singer Jayson Green certainly doesn't use an indoor voice. Even more dangerous, guitarist Justin Cherno's molasses-sticky riffs evoke the slow-motion slide of the cough syrup only grown-ups were supposed to take. My parents also tried to keep me away from checkered Vans, but although this band's thrash-and-burn, grate-and-destroy wallop could easily soundtrack suburban skateboarding, there's a big difference between the two: Panthers, churning out the kind of hard rock that went the way of feathered hair, are decidedly not fashion (despite the fact that their label, Vice, is one of the more hipster-oriented out there). Just check the way that their echo-soaked guitars recall the Cult. OK, so Green does a mean Iggy impersonation -- the band's not totally unschooled in cool. Just be careful where you play this: You're looking at detention, mister.