The Panics are an

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band originally from

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and currently based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

History

2000–2006: Band formation and LittleBigMan Records

The band started out while Jae Laffer (then known by his actual first name, Justin) and Drew Wootton were still at high school in Kalamunda, an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Laffer and Wootton met on their first day of school. The duo added Drew's younger brother Myles on drums, Paul Otway on bass and Jules Douglas on slide guitar, keyboards and vocals and formed The Panics. After being spotted playing at the

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

Hotel by

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...

' Gaz Whelan and Pete Carroll, following Happy Mondays'

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

performance at The Big Day Out in 2000, they were the first signing to the UK-based label LittleBIGMAN Records. Laffer later said "That's what's been really cool about us and the label is that it was just the fact it was new for everyone and we weren't just another band that they were adding to their roster. It felt really exciting to be part of a label that seemed to have really good ideals and be run by guys who certainly have their heads in the right place and are pro-artist as opposed to pro-money and I truly believe that." The Panics first release was a self-titled EP in January 2002. Tracks "My Brilliant Career" and "Give Me Some Good Luck" enjoyed high rotation on Australian radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

A second EP was released in 2002 and tracks "This Day Last Year" and "How's It Feel" were also played on Triple J. In 2002, The Panics were the first Australian band to be invited to play at In the City, the UK's annual music convention. Laffer said "It was just a very spooky event. It was like playing a pub in Perth. It was condensed down to a couple of nights. In this one kind of block in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in Manchester there was about ten pubs all within walking distance, each with about five bands playing a night and just a huge huge amount of industry just doing the rounds, walking through. Every person in the crowd had a laminate. Our place was packed when we played which was great but it’s very hard to read industry people 'cause they don’t want to jump around and cheer. We’d just finished recording and I remember being on stage and we were just having a laugh because it was just so great to be playing in England." While in England they commenced recording tracks for their debut album. ''

A House on a Street in a Town I'm From A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' was released in 2003 to local critical praise and included the single "Kid You're a Dreamer", which was used as the credits theme music for the Australian drama

The Surgeon ''The Surgeon'' is a 2005 Australian television medical drama. It screened at 9:30pm on Thursdays on Network Ten and in Ireland early morning on RTÉ One. The show was based at a fictional hospital named Sydney General Hospital. The first sea ...

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fiv ...

. The band toured Australia for the first time and also played a series of gigs with

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since th ...

, Gomez,

Grandaddy Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden, until Garcia's death in 2017 following a stroke. After several ...

, The Church and

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show ''Sam and his Magic Ball'', which he saw ...

. They went on to complete several sell out national headline tours of Australia.. In late 2004, the band headed back to England for a second UK tour, including supporting the

at a sold-out show to over 12,000 people on

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Whilst in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, they commenced writing new material for their next album, The band's second album, '' Sleeps Like a Curse'' was released in August 2005, and was nominated for the Triple J Australian Album of the Year. Shortly after the release of the album, the band relocated to Melbourne. In October 2006 they released a three track single "Factory Girl", a cover of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

' " Factory Girl" from their 1968 album, ''

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Ro ...

''.

2007–2010: Dew Process and ''Cruel Guards''

In February 2007 The Panics signed with

Dew Process Dew Process is an Australian independent record label, based in Brisbane, Queensland, founded and owned by Australian music industry figure Paul Piticco. Operational The label operates in two primary areas: traditional development of Australi ...

, and on 13 October 2007, the band released their third studio album, '' Cruel Guards'' which peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold. The album was

's feature album for the week of 8 October 2007 and went on to win the 2007

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

for Triple J Australian Album of the Year. The album's lead single " Don't Fight It" was released in August 2007 was featured in an episode of the Australian television drama series, Underbelly and appears on the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ...

. It was also used for the end scene of the

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

episode, "

Tornado Girl The third season of the American comedy-drama television series ''Ugly Betty'' was confirmed in the ABC lineup, which was picked up for a full season on February 11, 2008. The season premiere aired on September 25, 2008, and ended with a special d ...

". The song became the band's first to reach the ARIA top 50, peaking at number 43 At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2008 The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...

, the band were nominated for four awards, winning the

ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recor ...

. Jae Laffer said "We like to consider ourselves a bit more contemporary than adult, but we'll take that." He Added "The award was nice recognition after seven years together as a band. It's almost like just a bit of validation for a lot of hard work. Also it keeps the band a little bit hungry just knowing that people are listening." In early 2010, The Panics played a show at Kings Park, Perth backed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra features many performers not unaccustomed to this form of cross-over with many, notably Michael Ingle, having previously played with

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appe ...

and The Cat Empire. The band contributed the song "No More Tears" on the

Maurice Frawley Maurice Gerard Frawley (5 May 1954 – 16 May 2009) was an Australian rock and country blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Biography Maurice Gerard Frawley was born on 5 May 1954, the son of Gerard Patrick and Eileen Marie Frawley, he grew u ...

2010 tribute album, ''Long Gone Whistle - The Songs of Maurice Frawley''.

2011–present: ''Rain on the Humming Wire'' and ''Hole in Your Pocket''

On 29 July 2011, the band released their fourth studio album '' Rain on the Humming Wire'', which peaked at number 7 on the ARIA Charts, becoming their first top ten album. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2011 The 25th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) were a series of award ceremonies which included the 2011 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fin ...

, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Adult Alternative Album. In 2013, The Panics were commissioned to write an original soundtrack for the ABC archival documentary '' Girt by Sea'' (2014). The film premiered at the Perth International Arts Festival in February 2014 where The Panics performed the score live to a sold-out audience. Before recording their next album, the band had some time off with Laffer saying in 2016 "The members felt as though they were running low on steam, unable to produce much fruitful work." On 7 October 2016, the band released their fifth studio album '' Hole in Your Pocket''. Upon release, lead singer Jae Laffer spoke with Double J saying there is a "beauty of making a record after a significant break syou've evolved as a person from when you were writing your last batch of songs", adding "You experience some new things that you haven't touched on before, musically and lyrically." Despite positive reviews, the album peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Chart. Commencing fortnightly in April 2020, the band re-released their back catalogue on streaming services.

Members

* Jae Laffer – vocals, guitar, keyboards * Drew Wootton – guitar * Myles Wootton – drums * Paul Otway – bass * Jules Douglas – keyboard, guitar, vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions ...

. The Panics has won 1 award from 5 nominations. , - , rowspan="4",

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, ''Cruel Guards'' , Best Adult Contemporary Album , , - , rowspan="2", Scott Horscroft for ''Cruel Guards'' , Producer of the Year , , - , Engineer of the Year , , - , "Don't Fight It" , ARIA Award for Breakthrough Single , , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, ''Rain on the Hummingwire'' , Best Adult Alternative Album , , -

The J Awards

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

's youth-focused radio station

, and judged by on-air teams at the station. , - , J Award of 2005 , Sleeps Like a Curse , Triple J Australian Album of the Year , , - , J Awards of 2007 , Cruel Guards , Triple J Australian Album of the Year , , -

WAMI Awards

The

Western Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

(commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM) and celebrates achievements of Western Australian artists. , - , rowspan="2", 2002 , ''The Panics (EP 1)'' , Most Popular Local Original Single/EP , , - , themselves , Most Popular New Band , , - , 2003 , themselves , Most Popular Local Original Act , , - , rowspan="4", 2008 , themselves , Most Popular Act , , - , themselves , Best Commercial Pop Act , , - , ''Cruel Guards'' , Most Popular Album , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panics, The Australian indie rock groups Western Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 ARIA Award winners 2000 establishments in Australia Dew Process artists