Panic Shack

When boys make it look hard, Panic Shack are here to prove it’s easy. Irresistible because of their simplicity and charming because of their familiarity, the Cardiff quartet are the answer to a question that, quite frankly, isn’t asked often enough: what if the funniest girls you know started a band?

Wild, intoxicating and delightfully chaotic, what began as an excuse to go down to the pub together became a word-of-mouth sensation. Like popping a bottle of Prosecco, the party began with ‘The Ick’ where contagious humour meets in a head-on collision with thrashy, joyful punk. Putting the milk in first, shushing in the cinema – these offences from the group chat debrief became an anthem for wading through the dating trenches: “I can’t even look you in the eye anymore / I cross the road when I see you coming / I’ve got… The ick”, vocalist Sarah Harvey states with the severity of a doctor’s prognosis.

And yet the knowing wink belies a story that digs under the skin. “VAPE! PHONE! KEYS! LIP GLOSS!” goes the fizzing, vitriolic refrain of ‘Pockets’ – a scene universally known by all women who are forced to carry a handbag because their clothes are designed without pockets. The rollicking ‘Meal Deal’ takes aim at a world where we can’t afford anything better. Panic Shack smuggles social commentary through their frivolity, and what better way to spread the word to the masses than having fun while they’re at it? The only love song on their 2025 self-titled debut album, ‘Thelma & Louise’ is not dedicated to any man but to each other: an ode to girlhood and the unwavering bond between them. It’s a ride-or-die promise, suspended in mid-air. Get ready to buckle up.