What says ‘classic American hard rock’ better than the mighty Van Halen? Nothing, right? So, we’re not surprised that our friends in Finland would jack some American culture for their outrageously popular band, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls. (Okay, culture may not exactly be the word that first comes to mind when processing the pun on the band’s name and the actor who inspired it, but hey, all in good fun.)
“Panama”, the 1984 VH megahit, has been given a bluegrass/rockabilly update, courtesy of Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, who have been around since 2011 but truly got noticed when their cover of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck garnered over 50 million views on their original YouTube channel in 2014. The channel sports several gems in addition to “Panama”, including a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” and the Guns and Roses rocker “Paradise City”.
“Panama” will be featured on the group’s third album, Grainsville, set for release later this summer. When asked, “Why Panama?”, the band revealed, “We started working on this ’80s masterpiece almost a year ago in the Finnish countryside.
It was one of the first songs we looked at for our upcoming third album. When Hiltunen and Herman started to bang out those iconic riffs with the accordion and the banjo, it immediately sounded right. Some nice booty shakin’ flavours were then added in the studio, and now here it is. This is an ode to the Finnish summer heat and all the old Toyotas still rollin’ down the streets…”
Grainsville drops August 31st, and more vids are expected to be showing up on their YouTube channel. Whether you like the accordion and banjo take on this one, you’ll get a kick out of the band’s ode to the original video, trust us.