Panic On by Madder Rose

Panic On, Madder Rose's second album, came out on Atlantic in March 1994, and it was cut in a hurry: the New York band came straight off the road with only ten days to get ready, then set up at Waterfront Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, to make it with Mark Freegard, who co-produced alongside the band. Guitarist Billy Coté later said the songs went down easily, and you can hear it: Mary Lorson's cool, unhurried voice floats over guitars that fuzz and chime by turns, pitched right where alternative rock melts into indie pop.

The title track and "Car Song" both landed in John Peel's Festive Fifty. Rolling Stone's Kara Manning gave it 4 stars out of 5 and praised its mix of poetry and chaos, though Robert Christgau shrugged. Bassist Matt Verta-Ray walked out once the sessions wrapped, and the band had five weeks to find a replacement, landing on Chris Giammalvo from Eve's Plum.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.