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With a bigger endorsement than, Calvin Klein, Stones Throw Records’ taste picker Peanut Butter Wolf has been creaming his so to speak after signing his latest star. In fact, previous releases by Mr. Pants have come out in dribs and drabs on the unsuspecting world with a very limited 12”, a collection of Rhythm Trax and a couple of contributions to the excellent Chrome Children releases.

Even so, when Peanut Butter Wolf returned to these shores this month, many were asking “Who is James Pants”? (Read the Interview with PBW HERE after his last trip to the UK and the story of the Tesco white polo shirt!)

So a quick dash to myspace and you’ll change the question to “What is James Pants?” Is he hip-hop, breaks, funk, disco, warped or sex god? Well Stones Throw finally comes clean with this EP as his first proper single release and all this madness seems to make sense.

The main track is an electro cow-bell space go-go no-wave funker that’s so New York, how can it possibly have come out of a bedroom in Spokane? Never heard of Spokane, Washington? Me neither but the connection with PBW dates back to 2001 when PBW was playing at a prom night in Texas. That’s what started out to be Pants’ internship at Stones Throw and his rise as the “new sound”.

To be honest, there’s a lot of old sound in the new sound but Pants puts it together so well, it’s like the best bits of the 80’s with all the rubbish put out for re-cycling. PBW gives the drummer some on his edit of the appropriately entitled ‘Monster’ (squeezing in, possibly, a Detroit Spinners sample at the end?)

‘Rockin’ ends this set and takes you back to the early days of electro boogie and Froggy mixes but if you want to know how sexy synths should sound, ‘Space Date’ is the track. A racing bass and some real (possibly) analogue, it’s a track that really needs an extension at only 3.06 long (I’ll have a word I think).

We’re promised that this is a mere taster for the new album Welcome that’s due out in May but this will keep us rockin’ in the house until then. Thanks again PBW, well worth the wait.

Reviewed: James Pants - We’re Through (Stones Throw Records) Catalog#: STH2191 Release date: May 2008
Tracklisting:
1 We’re Through (3:36)
2 We’re Through (Instrumental) (3:32)
3 Monster (Peanut Butter Wolf Edit) (2:48)
4 Space Date (3:06)
5 Rockin’ (3:25)

Links
www.myspace.com/jamespants
www.stonesthrow.com/jamespants
James Pants on www.last.fm/music
www.stonesthrow.com
One Week To Live www.oneweektolive.com 9-15h July 2007 Issue 83
Peanut Butter Wolf presents Percee P & Guilty Simpson
www.stonesthrow.com/pbwolf
www.stonesthrow.com/perceep
www.stonesthrow.com/guiltysimpson
www.myspace.com/guiltysimpson
www.iwantpants.com