NEW SINGLE ‘ALWAYS WANNA SAY (YOU'RE MINE )’ RELEASED 12TH JUNE 2026
W: Karl Watson I: Max Morgan
Stripped of the noise, the lights, and the labels, what remains is the music that truly matters. The Lifeboat Playlist is a raw deep dive into the sonic DNA of the artists we love, forcing them to choose the ten definitive tracks they’d carry into isolation.
This week, indie-rock outfit The Panamas hand over their survival kit built on gut-level resonance—a collection of anthems, heartbreaks, and high-octane riffs that define a lifetime. From stadium-sized roars to vulnerable late-night confessions, these are the songs that keep the fire burning when the horizon feels endless.
These ten tracks aren’t just influences—they’re blueprints. They represent the standards the band measure themselves against and the kind of songwriting that made them want to start a band in the first place. Each one captures something essential—whether it’s ambition, atmosphere, melody, or sheer conviction—forming the very foundation of how The Panamas approach writing and performing today.
DAVE: Stone Roses - Waterfall
Lots of nice memories associated with it including my first proper gig with friends having a few beers and always start a big day out listening to it. It will also be my funeral song which would be fitting if I was lost on a lifeboat
OSCAR: LCD Soundsystem - Home
Started listening to them in lockdown and it always lifted me out a bad mood, beat is captivating and always a go to song. Won’t forget seeing it live at Brixton Academy with my pals
HARRY: The Smiths - Cemetery Gates
For me it’d be Cemetery Gates by The Smiths. This has been one of my favourite songs for a long time, everything in this song is perfect for me. I would often listen to this song on the way to uni and it always takes me back to those happy memories.
CHARLIE: Oasis - Whatever
"This is a song that always makes me smile and I play it before any occasion where I need a little spring in my step or feel a little nervous. It takes me back to sitting in a booster seat beside my Dad in the car, listening to it on the bus home from school on a Friday, to screaming it with my brother and mates at Heaton Park. I always get goosebumps listening to the final bit with the strings and the outro basically saying that everything will be alright—which is exactly the motivation I’d need on the lifeboat."
DAN: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
It's a song that's tied to my teenage years, I love the way it reminisces about growing up whilst reflecting on how quickly the moments of youth go by.
NATHAN: Green Day - Home Coming
The penultimate song in an all time great time album, capturing the essence of rebellious youth! in between its punky riffs and heavy drums, the song still captures tells a story and captures a lot of emotion, reminding us that whatever life throws at us, our home is always there.
The Collective Influences
Musically, it is incredibly difficult to narrow it down to 4 more key inspirations… however we have given it a go.
Suede - Beautiful Ones
Before we went into lockdown, we had the songs ready to record for an EP. Due to the guidelines, we were unable to go into the studio. In this time I got quite into suede and the song that caught my attention at first was ‘Beautiful Ones’. I loved how the riff really cut through and was really quite a fun song. With that in mind, we came up with ‘Rita of Cascia’, we then scrapped the rest of the EP we already had and came up with completely re-wrote our debut EP. I guess this song caused all of that
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
We have been a band for a long time (14 years total) and for the first few years we very much had the mindset of being a ‘Guitar band’ so we weren’t really big fans of adding keys to our songs. We didn’t have a problem with listening to songs with keys though. We are big fans of the cure and our attitudes just kind of changed because of how cool the cure are. Just like even was one of those tunes where we thought that it really was the move to add keys to your tunes.
The Strokes – Reptilia
When David and Oscar were younger, they would always play the strokes songs together with their complimentary styles of rhythm and lead. This shaped the way they played together and transferred into the way they write their own parts together. Reptilia was one of those songs they would always play and we even covered a few times in the early days.
Foo Fighters - The Pretender
When we were first starting out, like a lot of other bands we would just play covers. This was a song where we bit off way more than we could chew… we absolutely butchered this song. After our horrific rendition of this song,