After convening in a Putter's Bar & Grill on Tropicana Avenue, Pan de Sal's Sheila Hall needs a quick ride across the street to the parking lot in front of

Sunflower Farmers Market. The temperature is a blazing 104, and to avoid a sweaty visage she has taken brief refuge in a CityLife writer's SUV. A.C. may be struggling, sure, but the stereo is absolutely kicking her band's new release, The Revisits EP, an all-remix version of the band's earlier EP -- remixes largely rendered by the Doodler, a.k.a. Sal beatmaster Jeff Madlambayan.

"Yeah, Pitchfork only gave our new EP four stars," bemoans Sheila.

"Four stars?!" says the writer, blown away.

She smirks at him as if to suggest: "Are you really that dumb?" What she actually says is: "No, but I like telling everyone that."

Listening to Pan de Sal involves a similar experience. You're never really sure if the band is serious. Even when you're confident they mean business, you still find yourself grooving to their fun-lovin' beats, thick instrumentation -- we're talking everything from a didgeridoo to a children's tambourine -- and quirky lyrics. Imagine if England's world beat/hip-hop act M.I.A. actually taught a musical instruction course for middle schoolers in Southeast Asia, and you maybe sort of get the drift.

A lyrical sample:

"This is a club anthem/ This is a soundsystem banger/ We're Pan de Sal, we've got striped shirts on our hangers/ So you best be cautious/ 'Cause you might be in danger...."

Thing is, Pan de Sal's The Revisits EP is so good it wouldn't surprise anyone if the band earned critical praise from serious sources. Often relying on a unique mélange of English, tagalog (Filipino dialect) and Portuguese, Pan de Sal's music is a politically minded, cross-cultural brew of effortless, beat-heavy electronic pop. The band's name itself is tagalog for salt bread, which is why we find ourselves scouring the bread aisle of Sunflower looking for this unique breakfast item. The fact that all three members of the band are wearing striped black-and-white shirts doesn't seem to raise any eyebrows.

The cashier notices the pin the band gave the writer a few minutes ago.

"What is Pan de Sal?" he asks.

"Cool Vegas band," says the writer. "They're in the wine aisle now."

He looks over. "Oh. I thought they were mimes."

Bread-wise, all we end up with is a single loaf of French. Jeff and his wife, the lovely Pan de Sal (and also Love Pentagon) bassist Judi Brown, grab a bottle of wine. We now have all the makings of a great photo shoot. As the photographer sets up, the writer gets the basic storyline: The band formed in 2006, starting out as a bigger nine-piece act but eventually settling on the current trio. Pan de Sal is part of Uno Momentum Sound Collective, a West Coast network of underground bands in the "experimental electro music" genre that includes Ex-Dinosaur, Flaspar and Love Pentagon.

Individually, the members of Pan de Sal are troopers, enduring the heat as well as a reflector used to direct white-hot sunlight into their faces. No need to fake a fun shoot. The band is always cracking wise. Eventually, the pain ends, and heat stroke is avoided.

We cool off afterward with a few beers back inside Putter's, where the writer pins them down on the subject matter of certain tracks. "The Boom and the Bees" is about the gross inequality of exploitative trade deals like NAFTA. "Movement and Travel" is about the privilege of moving freely around the planet, a freedom many Americans take for granted in a world increasingly reigned in by poverty and government oppression. Overall, the music is a mix of lightheartedness and serious themes. Moreover, not only does Pan de Sal believe in community participation and social justice, they also contribute proceeds from shows to, and play benefit performances for, progressive organizations (Las Vegas Rescue Mission, Rape Crisis Center).

"When we play all-ages shows, we give out buttons and stickers [that represent] good causes. We give stuff away to kids who are dancing their butts off at our shows. If there's a message to this band, it's that we want people to get involved. Of course, we understand that it's a challenge.

"

So why a remix EP? Well, traditional remix albums are made up of contributions from various artists. Pan de Sal thought it would be fun to rework the songs from their first EP all by themselves (relying primarily on the Jeff's studio techniques) again and again and ...

"I'm always saying, 'Hey, let's remix this song,'" says Jeff. "We just wanted a different take on things, which is why we called it The Revisits, since that's what we're doing -- revisiting the material."

"We've also learned our lesson," adds Judi. "We've played with every kind of band, from death metal to thug rap, so we're not afraid to mix up different elements. We don't fit in any category, really."

"We like to strike a balance between having fun and being socially conscious," says Sheila. "Fun is important, too."

To promote the CD, Pan de Sal is playing nine shows in seven days, with a tour that runs from Seattle to Tempe. In the spirit of everything else they do, the tour is a completely DIY effort. Heck, when a show falls through, they're not above hitting an open mike at a nearby hookah lounge like they did in El Paso.

"We rocked it way too loud," Jeff says with a grin.

Pan de Sal's next Vegas show takes place July 18 at the Bunkhouse Saloon. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/pandesalband.

Jarret Keene, jarret_keene@yahoo.com