Cardiff’s Panic Shack announce their debut album, Panic Shack, ahead of an 18th July release on Brace Yourself Records. To celebrate the news the 4-piece have released lead single and opening track ‘Girl Band Starter Pack’, a roof-raising start to proceedings that’s fizzing with the anticipation of walking into a club at the start of a night out. It opens with the rising sound of chatter, glass clinking and laughter, most of which was recorded in the beer garden at an Amyl & the Sniffers gig, in the process sounding like the party-punk equivalent to the intro of Spice Girls’ ‘Wannabe’. From there, the bouncy bass line and blistering guitars kick in and the band pull you into their world the way a friend would grab your hand and drag you onto the dancefloor. “Four iced lattes / Sit outside / Smoke a rolly / Sun is shining / People watching / Things are moving / Got us talking…” Sarah Harvey chants. It’s the perfect encapsulation of the good-time philosophy at the core of Panic Shack since day dot. The band share:
“Girl Band Starter Pack’ was the title of our inspiration playlist on Spotify when we first started the band. It’s had many deaths and rebirths but has been with us since the start, so it’s quite special to us. Not only because we’ve watched it morph into a certified banger (it was once named ‘Banger Potential’) but because it personifies our friendship and the electricity we feel when we’re together, whether that’s creating, playing or simply just grabbing a coffee … which as the song foretells, usually leads to a voddy.”
It’s accompanying video, sees the band enlist trouble-starting drag queens Jolene Dover, Lasagne Sheets, CiCi and Bopa Rhys to portray the band for a night on the Cardiff tiles. Panic Shack explain:
“We wanted a music video that really heightened the vibe of the song, and thought who else could play us better than a bunch of sassy, sexy, stunnin Welsh drag queens?!. All hail, Jolene Dover, Bopa Rhys, CiCi and Lasagne Sheets. They played us better than we play ourselves and have inspired us to dial our energy up to 11. We let the Queens loose on the streets of Cardiff, went to all of our usual haunts around the city and laughed until our stomachs hurt all day.”
Panic Shack Live Dates
May
1- Nottingham, UK – Bodega [sold out]
2 – Cambridge, UK – MASH
3 – Norwich, UK – Norwich Arts Centre [sold out]
6 – Brighton, UK – Patterns [sold out]
8 – Birmingham, UK – The Castle & Falcon
9 – Wrexham, UK – FOCUS Wales
10 – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
11 – Newcastle, UK – Cluny
13 – Glasgow, UK – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut [sold out]
14 – Sheffield, UK – Yellow Arch Studios [sold out]
15 – Liverpool, UK – Arts Club
16 – Manchester, UK – Band on the Wall
18 – Oxford, UK – The Bullingdon
19 – Southampton, UK – Papillon
20 – Milton Keynes, UK – Craufurd Arms
22 – Bristol, UK – Thekla [sold out]
23 – Port Talbot, UK – In It Together Festival
25 – Newport, UK – Corn Exchange
28 – London, UK – The Garage
July
10 – Cheltenham, UK – Upcote Farm
18 – Portishead, UK – Homestead Festival
For more information on Panic Shack please check their facebook and instagram.
