together PANGEA

together PANGEA

together PANGEA are a Los Angeles garage punk trio active since 2008. The group consists of William Keegan on guitar and vocals, Danny Bengston on bass and Erik Jimenez on drums. They begin as a Southern California DIY band playing beer blasts around CalArts, building a reputation for noisy, fast pop hooks and energetic live shows.

Early work and line-up

William Keegan starts writing and recording in his Santa Clarita bedroom, with his teenage recordings later developing into a full band with Bengston and Jimenez. The band first performs under the name Pangea before adopting the name together PANGEA. Their early releases include a run of seven-inches, cassettes and LPs, and they play widely in the Southern California underground scene.

Albums and style

Their second album, Living Dummy, is released in 2011 on Burger Records and The Smell’s Olfactory label. Their third full-length album, Badillac, is released on Harvest Records and keeps the band’s raw punk energy while bringing in more nuance, dynamic changes and a broader range of influences. The album includes songs such as “No Way Out”, the title track “Badillac”, “Sick Shit”, “Where The Night Ends”, “Why” and “Offer”.

On Badillac, the band draws on post-punk tension, garage punk, classic alternative rock and 1990s bands including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Keegan also cites Pete Seeger, Little Wings and the Microphones among his influences. The record is made over three sessions with longtime producer and engineer Andrew Schubert at his Tarzana studio, with second guitarist Cory Hanson of W-H-I-T-E added to the recording line-up.

Scene and collaborators

together PANGEA play with and alongside acts including Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Wavves and The Black Lips. They also join the 2013 Burgerama Caravan of Stars US tour. Their songs and interviews suggest a band interested in moving beyond a fixed garage punk identity, mixing abrasive riffs with darker themes and more unstable emotional material.