This isn’t your father’s “Come Together”. We’re better off for it.
Pangaea’s respect for The Beatles is audible throughout their cover of “Come Together”. The Geogia-based septet recast the Abbey Road opener as a groove-centric mix of raucous jazzy horns, slinky bass, varied percussion, and tough-as-nails rock guitar laid over top. However, the spirit of the original always shines through.
You can hear that respect in the vocals. They vary the phrasing, adding distinctive touches rather than cravenly imitating the original, yet embrace fidelity over twisting the song beyond recognition. This intelligent balancing act doesn’t neuter the performance. Instead, it creates something new from the original while echoing the song’s time-honored charms.
I love the groove. Every version of this song, even Aerosmith’s, correctly spotlights this integral element. Pangaea lavishes attention on that crucial aspect of the arrangement. The tightly-knit interplay between Terry Dillard’s drumming, secondary percussion courtesy of conga player Chris Nettuno and percussionist Frankie Quiñones, and Joe Reda’s bass gives “Come Together” tangible physicality from the outset.
The vocals capture some of the elan of the original while stamping their own personality on the piece. Pangaea applies post-production effects to the vocals without tipping the scales into an unnatural delivery. Scattering dollops of attitude throughout the phrasing illustrates the inspiration driving the vocals every bit as much as the performance’s musical aspects, and helps round it off into an even more complete listening experience.
An unit with abundant chops like Pangaea could be accused of following the path of least resistance covering a song like this. That is a mistake. “Come Together” certainly doesn’t represent the apex of The Beatles’ creativity despite its enduring popularity. However, it shows that Pangaea doesn’t cower from sacred cows. Few other bands in popular history music command the sort of instant recognition that The Beatles enjoy, and commandeering one of their better-known tunes implies confidence that serves Pangaea well.
It will be a crowd-pleaser. They achieve an appealing off-the-cuff sound that should translate well into a live setting. Seven-piece outfits are far from the norm in a modern popular music landscape dominated by trios, quintets, and quartets. The members of Pangaea play with an easy-going rapport that sparks with chemistry each step of the way.
I expect they will be around for a long time to come. “Come Together” illustrates how they can play popular music without resorting to cheap tricks or dumbing down their sound for the audience. They are achieving success on their terms, and I expect that success will continue blossoming with each new release. Their cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” is quite a feather in their collective caps that they can be proud of. There is a lot to build on for their increasingly bright future, and I’ll follow them from here. You should too. They’ve earned it and will keep earning it for the foreseeable future.
Cleopatra Patel