The Rebel is the second single culled from Johnny Panic's critically acclaimed second album “The Good Fight”. I always enjoy listening to this quality act and haven't forgotten their fantastic live performance in Aberdeen to a tiny crowd a couple of years ago. As a single choice “The Rebel” is a very good as it suits itself to radio play and, dare I say it, even the mainstream marketplace. 

There are no real standout tracks from “The Good Fight” as the standard is so high but “The Rebel” has a good sing along pop/punk kind of feel to parts of it though it never loses it's British harder edged sound and the social commentary that is a focal point of the band. This is a very high quality track that blows similar bands out of the water and would be a very good introduction to listeners new to the band. For established fans  then there is nothing to explain. 

The “B” side is a stripped down, almost acoustic version of a song from their first album “The Violet Dazzling”. This track “Hurt (I See You Around)” was one of my favourite tracks from this again excellent album though I am not as much of a fan of this version of the song. To be honest I would rather have seen a new track here rather than a re-hash of an old number but that seems to be the pattern these days. A very interesting and well written song but Rob Solly's voice better suits the original higher tempo version and this introspective more mellow version, while still being good ,loses a degree of impact. All in all though another excellent release from one of Britain's brightest rock talents.

Mike Clark