There are more than a few points when Hey Panda sounds like the work of an entirely different band. The songwriting is sharp as ever, but Sean O'Hagan gleefully pushes the High Llamas into new directions. It's an impressive accomplishment in itself more than three decades after the band's formed. O'Hagan was already a music industry vet by the time he founded the High Llamas in 1990, having spent the previous decade sharing songwriting credits for Rough Trade act, Microdisney. Transcript available here.
