New Pants: still skinny, though.
When teenager Peng Lei wrote "The Era is Ours," he had no idea the song would become a Beijing rock classic – or that he would one day celebrate his band's 15th anniversary.
During two decades of Chinese rock, which has sadly seen few dreams realized, New Pants have managed to stay productive, with a new album coming out almost every two years.
The band's concert tour, also titled "The Era is Ours," is set to hit the Beijing Exhibition Center on November 18, reviewing the past decade and a half and introducing their up-coming album Sex Drug Internet.
"We will perform most of the classics… and also new ones from our seventh album," lead singer and guitarist Pang told the Global Times. "We named the tour 'The Era is Ours' because there was no other song that could better conclude that age and a good song is ageless."
Like British rocker Ian Dury, who concluded the 70s punk age with the Blockheads classic "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," New Pants hopes to express the feelings and thoughts of young, sex-savvy Chinese in an online age with the new lead single "Sex Drug Internet."
The multi-talented Peng also puts his observation of society into films, paintings and plays. His 2009 lesbian film Panda Candy, for example, was invited to the UK's Raindance Film Festival.
Being versatile is another reason New Pants keeps going.The mercurial band love to surprise with a different sound and have certainly come a long way since their three-chord punk origins.
Their sound has an unpredictability – indie one minute, pop the next – some find hard to love. You might enjoy old ballad "Two Boy Friends" or the electronic "Dragon Tiger Panacea" – but New Pants have moved on for good.
"I don't know anyone who listened to our music 10 years ago and are still following us," he said. "But we're not a nostalgic band and we like to make music for young people. Our new album will be more fashionable and synth-pop."
Although a frequent visitor to Chinese music festivals, Peng is not optimistic about the scene in China.
"Rock music has never been a sensation in China. It has been going down since the 1990s, and most of the young bands just imitate foreign bands but fail the Chinese audience," he said. "Although music festivals are growing, the number of quality bands is not."
One of the band's songs is called "We Don't Listen to Pop Music": in it, they express their disappointment at pop's lack of creativity and originality. The stale and commercial nature of the industry does have its upside, however – and may explain one of the secrets to the band's longevity.
"If pop music is always this bad in China, we will hopefully see more and more people fall in love with rock; for example, through live music and concerts," he said. "The Internet is always convenient but it will never take the place of the fun at a live scene."