It's virtually impossible to listen to
June Panic's
Horror Vacui (or any of his records, for that matter) without immediately drawing a comparison to
Bob Dylan, both sonically and thematically. That's not to say that
Panic is by any means a
Dylan ripoff, though. Like
Dylan,
Panic's voice is extremely nasal and his pensive lyrics instantly qualify him for troubadour status, but
Panic has a presence of emotional exhaustion while
Dylan might typically be more optimistic and hopeful. Although
Dylan stays in the position of observer,
Panic intentionally plays the role of "he who has been done to." The leadoff track, "Do Not Let Them Fool You," penned originally by Bertolt Brecht, acts as an appropriate tone-setting ballad of drinking and drudgery, where Brecht and
Panic examine the ideas of birth, afterlife, and the time spent in between. From beginning to end,
Horror Vacui is a mystifying record from one of America's sharpest singer/songwriters.
Panic has a knack for examining the most basic behavior of humankind with depth, truth, and sincerity. ~ Ken Taylor