On The Prowl With Puzzled Panther

Story by Amanda Gore

05/11/2025

New York buzz band Puzzled Panther is having a pretty great year so far.

After three tours opening for Gogol Bordello as a duo, the post-punk group is now joined by Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (drums), Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello (backing guitar and beats), and Alex Ryaboy (bass) on their first EP, Puzzled Panther. Led by Gen Z rockers Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo, the group continues to gain momentum as each new performance leaves them anticipating the next. “I feel like we are really coming together as a band,” Espinoza shared. “I have toured opening for Gogol for three tours already, but it was just us two, a more condensed version. That’s what we were able to put together as far as touring goes. As a five-piece band, we have not really played an abundance of shows. Now we are finally getting more shows under our belts as the full band, and last time was really something special.” Hütz shared what inspired him to join Puzzled Panther. “I love performing, writing and touring, but my chief focus is on songwriting. So, when I hear that young new artists really have that songwriting knack, are under the spell, that they are bringing in brilliant melody with killer substance, and they got that song form instinctively down, I get psyched, and I just want to help it along because writing for me that is my sacred discipline. “Puzzled Panther in particular, their songwriting appears so complete,” he continues. “It appears to be so boiled down and I just get excited to be part of it from a different point of view. From more of a person who’s in this producer chair, here in more of a producer position, bringing in more of a sonic expertise. But their songwriting is just shockingly powerful.” Recognizing new talent is something Hütz is no stranger to. He also created Casa Gogol, a record label where budding musicians can gain exposure and help further their careers. As a part of Casa Gogol, Puzzled Panther began touring, taking the stage for audiences across the U.S., Canada and Europe. Hütz says his personal experiences in the music business are what drives him to help other musicians. “In a way, it’s my way of giving back to the city,” he reveals. “When Gogol Bordello was just starting up, New York seasoned musician James Sclavunos, who played in iconic bands like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth and The Cramps, was playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at that time and came to see us and offered to produce our first record. It was an incredible, encouraging event. It really accelerated Gogol Bordello because Sonic Youth and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds being literally my most influential, most favorite bands of all times. “And the record came out on a small label, but that alone will forever be super special memory of how brilliant New York can be, where the right kind of person appeared, to help us along with what we needed, just for that starting stage. So, I always go back to that. I am always grateful and look back at that experience and now finding myself wanting to do the similar thing for younger musicians because I know how much it means at the first struggling years. So, I’m coming from that experience.” That experience would provide endless opportunities for Bontempo and Espinoza. Soon they added to their oeuvre with Women of the Pit: Stronger Together Vol. 1, an album featuring their first single, “Fake Ass Freedom Fighters.” They also contributed to a project organized by Gogol Bordello and friends titled, United Strike Back, sending proceeds to charities in support of Ukraine. Projects like these, in addition to touring, have allowed the message of their music to reach new audiences. “One of our biggest focuses other than the music itself is the writing,” Espinoza said. “Kay is a journalist, and when I’m not doing music, I write for a kids’ show. We put so much thought and intention into our lyrics. Growing up I listened to Gogol Bordello, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and all these other artists who have written their own lyrics. I think lyrics or just the written word is such a powerful thing and then when spoken, equally as well. So, I hope when people listen to the songs, they also listen to the lyrics and direct meaning from them because there is meaning behind them.” Bontempo also saw the lyrical content of their music as a top priority. “I think even before this band started to be what it is I always knew I was going to be a storyteller the same way that Victoria is and was,” she says. “So that’s a really big focus for us. The words aren’t just there in addition, they’re a central focus, and we’re always telling a story.” That passion for the written word does not end with their lyrics, it is also highly influential in their decisions regarding the band. One shining example of this was choosing the name Puzzled Panther. “It originally came from the Germs song, ‘Manimal,’” Espinoza revealed. “There’s a line in there where he says, ‘I came into this world like a puzzled panther wanting to be caged, but something stood in the way.’ I always thought that was such an interesting line, a ‘puzzled panther.’ What is a puzzled panther? So going back to the importance of writing and how you can craft beautiful things by putting two words together, I talked to Kay about this, and I was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about this band name?’ and she goes, ‘Well, it’s unique.’” “I was skeptical,” Bontempo explained with a laugh. “I think it grew on me quite a lot. I was never against it; I just think we also were going back and forth with a lot of ideas in our heads. Like many of our moments that for us have been true to form, we were homing in on the name, but we were thinking about these things. Then ultimately, we had a show coming up and we just had to make a very down-to-the-wire decision. So, we were like, that’s our name. We had a couple of ideas but that is the name that we both feel the most strongly about at this point.” Espinoza sat up in her chair and smiled, “It’s cool because Darby Crash was known as this super crazy performer; but he had another side of him, which was a much softer, more artistic side. He studied ballet and alternative dance when he went to college for probably a semester. I think our music is like that too. We are playing alternative rock, indie music, punk, post-punk, but there is that intellectual side of it, it is not just like crazy raucous music.” Bontempo also holds this connection to the Germs in high regard. “It comes back to us both being writers like we were talking about. Wanting people to listen to the lyrics and there being that more perspective side. So, it’s cool to have that parallel with Darby Crash and his ballet. I like having that Germs connection because it’s cool. At many of our shows some person will come up and be like, ‘Hey, is your name from a Germs song?’ It is very cool to see that it gets recognized, not by everyone, but by some people.” One person who understood the reference was punk rock legend Nick Launay, who produced their single “Smoke and the Mirrors We Broke,” which is now featured on the Puzzled Panther EP. “Nick was another great addition to the credit of the beauty on this,” Hütz explained. “He already worked with Brian Chase, drummer of Puzzled Panther and legendary drummer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. So, that’s a bit of that New York City continuity going on here in this band. Victoria and Kay, they are so driven by kind of the greatest music that came out of here, and some of it they are just discovering.” Something yet to be discovered is the future of rock ‘n’ roll. But what that future looks like is not puzzling these panthers at all. “I have high hopes for it, honestly,” said Espinoza. “I feel like people want something really tangible because we have been away from each other so long. People have brought up that if you want to discover new music you just have to go online or use technology. That is great, but the idea music used to be so much more tangible. To go to a record store and look into the new release section and be like, ‘This is something cool, I do not know what it is, but I’ll go check it out.’ “And now people are really craving that, even for a small band it might not be profitable at the moment to make like a whole vinyl EP, or an entire 12 inch, but even people making cassette tapes these days, that’s exciting for me. People are getting really creative with ways to make do with what they have at the moment, and I think that translates to their music as well. They are involving all kinds of different electronic sounds, different genres, and creating really cool fusions.” Bontempo shares a similar sentiment. “I think that one of the last components of the musical experience that will always be unavoidably tangible is the live experience. You can just do streaming, you do not have to do vinyl if you cannot afford it, or you don’t want to, but live is live. For me, where I come from with music is I have always felt the live experience is what I would care about the most. I love playing live. I love going to see live music. As more components of our music experience become digital, people are more excited, not less excited about seeing live music.” For Puzzled Panther, creating this EP with such a strong backing is something to really be excited about. From how they are received during live performances, to the new fans they are gaining every day, Puzzled Panther is on their way to becoming a household name. “It’s just really exciting because all of a sudden you are not trying to entertain the people,” Espinoza says. “They are already entertained by the song itself. They basically want to get up on stage with you. So you break this wall that a lot of people have when they’re so separated from the musician. So, it’s really cool to see that. It’s becoming more real than it already is.” ***Special thanks to 'rockandrollglobe.com' where this was originally published and to the author Amanda Gore****