In 2001, a local band called Breaking Benjamin started making noise, all the way from the Wyoming Valley to Selinsgrove.
When it came time to put a demo out there, the band stopped into Saturation Acres Recording Studio in Danville, and checked out what we'll call the Nu-Rock Encyclopedia ... 10th Edition. Since it hadn't even been cracked at that point, Breaking Ben took pride in being the first signature on the insert card, and held onto it for a while.
Five years and almost two million record sales later, the book's pages are worn and tattered. They're full of unintelligible notes and random highlighter ink. Some very important chapters, like "How to Make it Big Out of Northeast Pa." are just plain missing. The spine has been broken and left for dead.
The book is again vacant from the shelf. But now there's a fresh name on the card - Panacea. And whether intentional or not, this new nu-rock band is following more closely in Ben's footsteps than any other.
Panacea hails from the same towns, plays the same venues, and makes catchy records with the same producers ... all the while studying the same tried-and-true pages forged by the likes of men named Chino, Chaka, Jonathan, and Maynard.
Panacea is a simple band with a simple plan. And it all starts with their names: Tim Farley, vocals. Kevin Harry, drums. Mike Morgan, bass. Paul Young, guitars. Simple. Easy to remember. Yet exciting.
With a debut EP on the way titled "Anodyne," it helps to have the following propaganda emanating from the Saturation Acres mailing list: "We just finished a six-song tour de force with NEPA favorites, Panacea. This is one of the finest, rock ass projects to come through our doors so you won't want to overlook this one. The record will be released sometime this fall to the generally unsuspecting public. Remember, you heard it here first."
That's a ringing endorsement from Bret Alexander and Paul Smith, who echoed the same type of sentiments back when they recorded Breaking Ben.
As mentioned previously, Panacea is aware of the "get noticed" formula, and the stickiness that coats the powerful tunes of "Anodyne" is a clear indicator that the guys have done their homework, sans our fictitious rock bible.
"If I had to pick five bands that influence us, I'd pick Tool, Incubus, A Perfect Circle (of course), Deftones, and 311," said Paul Young, a.k.a. Pauly.
Serious music fans cringe whenever a modern band lists Tool as an influence, but Panacea - for the most part - makes no attempt to cop any of the aforementioned artists. Except for Deftones, but in fairness, every single nu-rock band since 1993 has sounded like Deftones. It's a stewing, dirge-driven sound that's been topping off testosterone tanks for more than a decade now. And, it happens to be a marketable sound.
On Panacea's new EP, that Deftones tone doesn't make an appearance until a few songs in, with the tune "Battle Cry."
While the influences Pauly named aren't blatantly in your face, you can liken Panacea's sound to acts before it. The track "4 Reasons" is the subtle fusion of '90s stomp-era Anthrax crossed with Taproot, provided Taproot had a much improved vocalist.
"Day of Remembrance" could easily be mistaken for the next Breaking Benjamin single. It's ballsy, hummable, launch-the-plane-from-the-nuclear-carrier-deck Godsmackian thunder. It works well when combined with the crunchy, yet jumpy chorus that'll leave you wondering whatever went wrong with Corrosion of Conformity.
"I'm a thousand percent happy with this CD," Pauly says. "We just put it online to sell today, and already we have interested labels giving it the once and twice over. It's already pulling its weight." "Say Anything" harkens more of an Orange 9mm sound, on its more melodic days. It plays on the "It's not you, it's me theme" that George Costanza made popular.
"What More" isn't as substantial an entry as the others. It can be taken or left. Of all the influences that comprise this song, perhaps the most prominent is Panacea's own "Day of Remembrance." Had "What More" been omitted from the disc, it still would have been a formidable EP more than comparable to Breaking Ben's first effort.
Closing out the set is "Statuette," which is for all intents and purposes, a power ballad in the vein of your Stainds and Disturbeds. Farley's vocal work stands out in fine form. He sounds like a naturally pure and gifted vocalist, and the disc seems built to showcase his range.
"Tim Farley is the man," Young says. "That's all I can say about him, and coming from me, that's the highest compliment I can pay him."
Farley carries his studio energy to the stage, as do Pauly and the rest of the band. In fact, watching Pauly play guitar is reason alone to see a Panacea show. A big fella, he spends most of any given set perched on the lip of the stage, hovering over the crowd with his back hunched like a surly cave troll sentenced to guard the Dwarven treasure for the rest of his life. His gaze jumps to a different audience member with every downbeat, and he stands ready to take on all comers - clutching his axe the way a five-year-old grips a freeze pop.
You couldn't pry it from his cold, dead hands.
"I'm very productive when it comes to that," says Pauly, whose email handle of "Mr. Sledgehammer" couldn't be more appropriate. "I like to get everybody involved. Too many bands out there are just going through the motions. That's not us."
Panacea has received boundless love from local radio, and has big plans for its CD release party this weekend. Having recently supported a rather large and festive CD release by friends Cyphilis, Panacea is ready to stamp its own mark on "the big show."
"We definitely have our own ideas for what we want to do," Pauly says. "I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but this is a show people are going to be talking about for a while."
IF YOU GO WHAT: Panacea CD release party with Cyphilis, Fighting Zero, and Owen's Grudge WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 22, 9 p.m. WHERE: Pepper's, Berwick TICKETS: Available at the door. CDs are $5. Visit www.panaceacures.com for more info.
