Source: CCTV.com

04-22-2007 16:10

There's a Chinese saying, a new one, that "If you choose to be a rock musician, you're choosing to be broke". Through the ups and downs of 20-years of Chinese rock and roll, many tried their luck and moved on. But not "New Pants", that's "New Trousers" for our English viewers. Comprising of three guys from Beijing, they're still rattling out the sounds their fans like to hear after 10 years in the game.

The song "You Are My Superstar" was the first hit from the pants' fourth album, "Dragon Tiger Panacea," released last October. After a four years hiatus, and weird title aside, the record is their best seller to date. The new album mixes vintage 80s' new wave with disco.

Peng Lei, vocal and guitar, said, "I think this album gives many young people a brand new concept. Actually, many of the youngsters didn't know what sort of music they were looking for until we gave it to them."

Keyboard Pang Kuan said, "We're giving young music lovers a new kind of music, although disco's been popular in overseas for years. We're the first to do it here in China. We have some serious lyrics in our songs, but more importantly, our music should be stylish and cool. The essence of disco music."

Since this album released, New Pants won the accolade of "most stylish band of the moment." Some critics say "New Pants" are the Jean Paul Gaultier of the music industry, because they're rejuvenating the currently rather stale music scene with their mix-and-match technique.

The title track of the new album, Dragon Tiger Panacea, is the tribute to their shared hero Bruce Lee. The music video for "Everybody" was shot in the hutongs of old Beijing and tries to re-start the break dancing trend. While "Two Boy Friends," a ballad while strikes a chord with their female audience, tells of the dilemmas of love.

But there has been plenty of more quirky inspiration for their magpie approach to things.

Pang Kuan said, "As we know, a panacea is a kind of traditional Chinese cure-all, everything from heatstroke,to carsickness or seasickness. We thought the name 'Dragon Tiger Panacea' is so over the top and funny, we decided to use it. It helped inspire me to design the album cover. I use medicine boxes, the sort we were given when we were kids, as a reference. The bottom of the boxes were printed with the directions for use. So I just copied that."