Maxwell Panther - Do You Feel Different Yet?

What’s lower than lo-fi? No-fi still sounds daft. Belo-lo-fi? Whatever - when the genre-baptists decide upon a suitable candidate, Maxwell Panther can be their exemplar. On Do You Feel Different Yet? the sound quality varies from charmingly scuffed to distractingly distant, as if a phone-call and answering machine were the chief recording devices. Certain songs survive courtesy of their undiminished tunefulness - My Ex-Identity’s start-stop chorus is a dynamic opening, while Lost Soul On A Roll (That’s Me) drops the distortion for a Pete Doherty-esque ballad. Other, lesser material might have slipped by as congenial filler if the recording weren’t so darn irritating. But despite aesthetic barriers, there’s much to admire, not least an attitude that shrugs insouciantly and mutters take it or leave it (there are no pitches for the mainstream to say the least). For those with a particular attachment to DIY achievements, a potential cult favourite awaits. [Chris Buckle]