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Article published Jul 6, 2007 Random Panties evolve from a chihuahua's inspiration
By Steve Wildsmith Of The Daily Times Staff
It had been a long day at work — one of those frustrating, exhausting days when the comfort of home seems like the only salvation — but Jessica Russell, lyricist and drummer for The Random Panties, wasn’t prepared for what she discovered when she walked in the door.
Crouched at the foot of their bed was her husband, Aaron (also the band’s guitarist and composer). Beside him was a pile of clothing, including several pairs of her underwear.
From that surreal moment sprang forth the band’s name.
“Our dog Penny is an 8-pound Chihuahua, and she steals things and hides them under our bed because the other dog can’t fit under there,” Jessica Russell told The Daily Times this week. “That’s her hiding place, and he was cleaning it out. I told him later that I didn’t know what to think — I come home, and there’s a pile of random panties in the floor and my husband’s crouched beside the bed. Then I thought, ‘Oh, that would make a great band name!’”
And so The Random Panties were born, a band that marks Jessica’s first foray into the scene as a musician and Aaron’s return to it after an eight-year hiatus from his stints in local punk outfits like Michael Michael Motorcycle and the Jerusalem Prophecy.
The couple met roughly 14 years ago, when they were in high school. They dated briefly — “I make a joke that I thought I was too cool for him, but then I realized I was wrong,” Jessica said with a laugh — and remained friends until getting back together romantically. Both music lovers, they befriended Michael Martin, owner of the Basement Gallery in Knoxville’s Old City. Martin had started booking the occasional band to play his gallery, and one day, the three decided to actually start playing music together rather than sitting around, drinking beer and talking about it.
What developed was a catchy, melodic-sounding dose of rock with enough edge to appeal to the fringes and enough pop to make The Random Panties seem like a sure thing for area fraternity parties. It’s difficult to nail down a comparison, exactly, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Strains of Neutral Milk Hotel (with more of a pop shine and less of the weirdness) and The Hold Steady (without quite so much angst) seem to float to the surface, but just as quickly they’re pulled back under and the garage-rock sounds of bands like The Strokes and The Hives come bobbing to the surface.
What sealed the deal, however, was the addition of the band’s current vocalist. The group’s first singer didn’t stay, and in February, the three gave themselves a three-month deadline to find another front man and book their first local show.
“When our first vocalist left in February, we said that no matter what, we were playing a show in May,” Jessica Russell said. “Well, we had been promised by a couple of bands and different venues that we could play, but they all fell through. And since Michael owns the Basement Gallery, we decided that no matter what, we were keeping our word.
“The exhibit he had up was ending that Monday, so we invited another band that had never played before to come down, and we decided to turn the gallery into our own club. We wrapped the walls in tin foil, and we had a big time — about 50 or 60 people showed up.”
Another show at The Corner Lounge opening for Adam McIntyre and the Pinks followed, and this weekend, Random Panties will perform at The Prince Deli in West Knoxville. Not bad for a group launched on the inspiration of a panty-snatching Chihuahua and the quirky lyrics of Jessica Russell.
“All our songs are based on a true story, but they’re not about us — they’re stuff you hear at parties that have happened to people we know,” she said. “Like ‘Trespasser’ — we live in a sort of suburban area in Anderson County, and these kids walk up and down the street, dressed in black and thinking they’re real tough. They like to cut through our yard to get to a field out back, and most of the time we just watch them through the window and laugh at them.
“One day, these three cut across, and about 10 minutes later, one of them comes back. He’s looking from side-to-side and sneaking around like he just got in trouble, and then we watch him put out an inhaler. I said, ‘Oh my God! It’s a little goth kid who’s asthmatic, and he’s hiding his inhaler from his friends because it’s not cool!
“Not that I have anything against Goths or asthma — I’m asthmatic and use an inhaler myself,” she added. “I just thought it was funny he was trying to hide it from his friends. That’s just one example of how we can find inspiration for a song in just about anything.”