NFV Song Spotlight: Together Pangea's Misery

The band Together Pangea was the special guest headliner for Kills Birds' performance at Gold-Diggers. The Los Angeles based band has been around for north of 10 years. How many times have I seen Together Pangea? Zero times. For as much time as I've spent catching bands across Los Angeles, there are still bands out there that I've never seen. I had to admit this at the venue. A person who knows how long I've hung out in the scene joked that I must have seen the band when they first started out. I responded honestly that I knew of the band, but had never seen them. 

Together Pangea at Gold-Diggers

As I walked up Gold-Diggers, I had no idea who the special guest headliner was. I took a look at Kills Birds' Instagram page and didn't notice any clues. I went to Gold-Diggers' Instagram page and nothing was there either. I got to within a baseball throws distance of the venue and noticed their sidewalk curb sign announcing that Together Pangea was the special guest. I was thinking, "So that's why they kept it under wraps and I finally get to see them play!"

Together Pangea at Gold-Diggers

This was a free night, but that didn't stop the band from putting on a full set. They played an 18 song set list that included a rather cool cover of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby." At the end of the set, the fans wanted an encore so the band performed one additional song to make it 19 in total. The biggest fan of the night was Kills Birds' own lead singer Nina Ljeti who bounced her way to the front of the stage and danced throughout. She had so much fun that she nearly (blindly) crashed into her friend's drink (he was standing right behind her) multiple times.

Together Pangea at Gold-Diggers

This was perhaps the best introduction set to catch for someone (me) unfamiliar with the band. Nine of their songs were from their first two albums, Jelly Jam and Living Dummy. I'm sure it was a nice flash back for the band (lead vocalist and guitarist William Keegan, bassist and backing vocalist Danny Bengston, drummer Erik Jimenez), thinking about their younger versions first playing those songs. Though the Gold-Diggers stage is rather tight, it still gave enough room for Keegan and Bengston to face off on each other. 

Together Pangea at Gold-Diggers

The song "Misery" was not played on this night, but it is the song I'll highlight here. It is the title song from their EP Misery. There's an aching and longing emotion that comes through the music and lyrics. The music has a singer-songwriter quality to it. Their bandcamp page mentions that Keegan wrote the songs for a solo release during the pandemic, which no doubt impacted the song title.

But I can’t die yet
I want a cigarette

Misery, misery, misery, death

If taken into context that this was written during the pandemic, one can feel the isolation in those lyrics. Is there hope? As life opened back up, maybe that influenced the song's ending as the final minute brightens up with cool upbeat rhythms.       

Setlist: Marijuana, I Ran, Better Find Out, Make Myself True, Straight Dumb, I Wrote a Bible, My Heart, Be My Baby (The Ronettes), Friend of Nothing, Money on It, My Head is Sick, Los Angeles, Sick of the Waste, Black and Blue, Night of the Living Dummy, Too Drunk to Come, River, Lithium (Nirvana cover)

The band will play The Echo on Nov 22nd to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their album Badillac.