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Evolution isn’t a must as a band. Some are happy to sit in the same space and do the comfort-zone thing year on year. But that approach sort of flies in the face of creativity in general. It’s natural to shift and change and experiment and find whatever the next version is.
Local roots-rock quintet The Panoptics have embraced that approach since lead singer Ben Plaisted and drummer David Purpura formed the band in Wauwatosa back in 2018. Two years later, guitarist Jacob Johnson jumped on board. Two years after that, it was multi-instrumentalist Nate Scheurell and bass player Jack Fricke.
Adding new layers, new people and new sounds brings something else to the project: uncertainty — a theme the band digs into on “The Shore,” a track that gets its premiere today ahead of the wider EP it’ll land on later this month.
When Lines Converge comes out March 14, you’ll discover that “The Shore” represents a kind of sea change (pun intended) for the overall project. Preceded by dreamier pop and rock balladry, this track is intriguingly described by the band as “sci-fi apocalyptic funk” that transitions to “a looser, jazz-tinged sense of freedom.”
It’s a case of sound matching the message, which puts the listener face to face with uncertainty and what it means to “stand at the edge of something vast and ominous, and still find steadiness.” Your first few metaphorical steps along “The Shore” are, indeed, shaded by a darker groove while Plaisted sings:
And we can do what we want
Until it all turns to rust
Until it all turns into nothing
But when it comes your turn
For what you thought you deserve
You’re gonna end up running
Keys and guitar get the chance to step forward in a middle section that exhibits the freedom mentioned earlier before the song wraps with a tone that’s … well, not quite hopeful. Maybe cautionary?
We don’t gotta worry about it no more
We just gotta stay away from the shore
Obviously, The Panoptics would prefer you get up close with “The Shore” (the song version anyway), which you can do using the player at the top of the page. It’ll also spin on 88Nine throughout today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.) before it gets its official release with the band’s Lines Converge EP on March 14. They’ll celebrate that new project the same day at Ope! Brewing Co. with an 8:30 p.m. live performance.
