Cruel Guards
Studio album by
The Panics
Released13 October 2007
GenreIndie rock
Length44:00[1]
LabelDew Process
Producer
The Panics chronology
Sleeps Like a Curse
(2005)		 Cruel Guards
(2007)		 Rain on the Humming Wire
(2011)
Singles from Cruel Guards
  1. "Don't Fight It"
    Released: August 2007[2]
  2. "Get Us Home"
    Released: November 2007
  3. "Feeling is Gone"
    Released: April 2008[3]

Cruel Guards is the third studio album by Australian indie rock band, The Panics. It was released on 13 October 2007 by Dew Process. The album debuted and peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold in 2008.[4]

The album was Triple J's feature album for the week of 8 October 2007.[5] At the J Awards of 2007, the album won Australian Album of the Year.[6] Drew Wootton said "It was amazing to win that award. We celebrated for days with the Triple J staff and then just fell over."[7]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2008, the album won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album while Scott Horscroft was nominated for ARIA Award for Producer of the Year and Engineer the Year.[8][9][10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Dwarf(favorable)[11]
FasterLouder(favorable)[12]
The Independent[13]
Mess and Noise(favorable)[14]
Polaroids of Androids3.7/10[15]

Adam Greenberg from AllMusic said "Frontman Jae Laffer gives a husky delivery that swoons just a bit here and there over the top of a layer of guitar and drums, an occasional bit of keyboard inflection, and depending on the song, a bit of classic Motown-style strings." Greenberg continued "The band tells their stories, touching on the grey areas of pop, alluding to U2 in the rhythm guitar for a moment in 'Live Without'. They touch on darker beach songs in 'Confess', they evoke contemporary Bob Dylan recordings in 'Sundowner' with an almost weary, dim delivery but a grandiose chorus movement. The album defies a clear definition other than 'adult contemporary' but it's attractive, it's catchy, and it's exploratory all at once. Definitely worth a spin or two."[1]

Track listing

Standard Edition

All tracks written by Jae Laffer, Paul Otway, Drew Wootton, Myles Wootton and Julian Grigor.[16]

  1. "Get Us Home" – 4:16
  2. "Ruins" – 3:42
  3. "Creaks" – 4:02
  4. "Don't Fight It" – 5:01
  5. "Feeling is Gone" – 3:23
  6. "Cruel Guards" – 5:15
  7. "Live Without" – 4:17
  8. "Something in the Garden" – 4:57
  9. "Confess" – 3:49
  10. "Sundowner" – 5:18
  11. "My Best Mistake" (iTunes bonus track) – 3:13
  12. "In Your Head" (iTunes bonus track) – 4:02
  13. "Cash" (iTunes bonus track) – 4:15
  14. "Kid You're a Dreamer" (iTunes bonus track) – 3:20

Bonus EP

Limited copies of the CD included a bonus EP of covers called Join the Dots.

  1. "Lazyitis" (Mark Day, Paul Davis, Paul Ryder, Gary Whelan, Shaun Ryder, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Sly Stone, David Essex) - 3:56
  2. "One Too Many Mornings" (Bob Dylan) – 2:28
  3. "Factory Girl" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:31
  4. "Who By Fire" (Leonard Cohen) – 3:04
  5. "Just Like a Woman" (Dylan) – 4:47

Personnel

The Panics

  • Jae Laffer – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
  • Myles Wootton – drums, percussion, vocals, orchestral arrangements
  • Jules Douglas – guitar, piano, vocals, hammond organ
  • Drew Wootton – guitar
  • Paul Otway – bass, vocals

Additional musicians

  • Naomi Radom – strings
  • Simon Ferenci – trumpet

Charts

Chart (2007–2008) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 18

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[18] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date Format Label Catalogue
Australia 13 October 2007 CD, digital download, LP Dew Process DEW900017 / DEW9000119
CD + EP DEW90004
North America 2007 CD, digital download DEW74987
United Kingdom 2009 Pública Records Public CD 3

References

  1. 1 2 3 Greenberg, Adam (15 October 2007). "Cruel Guards - The Panics". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Title: Don't Fight It, Artist Name : The Panics". J Play. 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "The Panics "Feeling Is Gone"". April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2020 – via YouTube.
  4. ↑ "Golden run continues for The Panics". Eleven magazine. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  5. ↑ "Triple J review". ABC. October 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. ↑ "The J Award 2007". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. ↑ Spurgin, Melissa (30 April 2008). "High praise for Panics". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  8. ↑ "ARIA Awards 2008 : Nominees". ARIA. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "ARIA Award finalists announced". PerthNow. 10 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  10. ↑ "ARIA awards - the nominations in full". Herald Sun. 11 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  11. ↑ "Cruel Guards - Panics, The". thedwarf.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "The Panics - Cruel Guards on". Fasterlouder.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  13. ↑ Gill, Andy (29 May 2009). "Album: The Panics, Cruel Guards (Pública)". The Independent. London.
  14. ↑ "The Panics - Cruel Guards in Releases: Mess+Noise". Messandnoise.com. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "Record Reviews » The Panics - Cruel Guards". Polaroids of Androids. 7 November 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  17. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Panics – Cruel Guards". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  18. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
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