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ROCK REVIEW: The Panic Channel gives taste of debut tunes
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, May 21, 2006
By MIKE DANIEL / The Dallas Morning News

When a supergroup forms, it typically commands immediate respect. But there are tiers to that respect. In the hard-rock world, for instance, people correctly assumed that Audioslave and Velvet Revolver would be good. Really good. But the bands mined (Guns N' Roses, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots) are legends in both sales and skill.

[Click image for a larger version] NAN COULTER/Special Contributor NAN COULTER/Special Contributor The Panic Channel (which includes, from left, Steve Isaacs and Dave Navarro) staged a technically flawed but elegantly delivered live show at the Gypsy Tea Room.

As pedigree falls, so does the level of initial notice. Down, Oysterhead and Tomahawk are three examples of fantastic supergroups, but none of those acts, despite having members of Pantera, Primus, the Police, Faith No More, Phish, Helmet and others, have made a significant dent in rock.

From that point of view, the Panic Channel has some work to do. Its most visible member is guitarist Dave Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction, Deconstruction and Red Hot Chili Peppers (the latter in its own supergroup guise a few years ago). Beyond him, its members are relative unknowns: drummer Stephen Perkins (Porno for Pyros), bassist Chris Chaney (Alanis Morissette) and singer Steve Isaacs, a wild card whose biggest gig was as an MTV VJ in the early 1990s.

The band is still so obscure (its debut album, (ONe), is still four months from release) that the crowd that took in its 75-minute set Friday at the Gypsy Tea Room was smaller than for the opening act, fiery sleaze rockers Bullets and Octane. The 100 or so who stuck around, however, received a concentrated taste of a supergroup that just might work out.

Mr. Isaacs is a dashing onstage figure who comes off as a studious and well-adjusted Trent Reznor. His voice melds Robert Plant and Gil Moore of Triumph with a tiny bit of Chris Cornell's growl; it's a pleasing timbre that matches up well with the Panic Channel's hyper-melodic brand of modern rock.

That's right: melodic. Mr. Navarro's former charges haven't mined that much, and fans of his former bands might not welcome the switch. But it's a smart approach in today's rock atmosphere, especially considering Mr. Navarro's recent head-first dive into pop culture as host of the CBS reality show, Rock Star.

Also smart was the band's technically flawed but elegantly delivered live show, which saved the highlights for the end: an engrossing performance of the upcoming CD's eight-minute psych-rock entry, "Night One"; an impromptu acoustic screamer, "Outsider"; and a chopped (but hardly screwed) jam through Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused."

The Panic Channel's been together for a year and a half so it's tight enough for live duty, and its publicity machine is just now starting to spool up. By the time Mr. Navarro's done with helping another supergroup, Supernova, find a singer on this summer's second season of Rock Star, he'll be ready to make his own explode. Expect it come September.