Friday morning and my phone pinged informing me that I had another addition to my email inbox. So much of what I get is junk of a promotional nature, daily notifications of gigs from a multitude of promotors and/or ticket agents. Approximately one in ten though is of interest and this one was. Sent by Peter, Aural Sculptors' Rhineland correspondent, this was a gig, a very recent gig in fact.
I duly downloaded the file at the end of the working day and gave it a listen. Last Thursday Panic Shack played a gig in Essen as part of a short German tour and this was I was now listening to. Now, Panic Shack are an entirely new name to me. I decided to listen to the full show before looking then up to find out a bit more of what they are about.
My first impressions were very positive. Panic Shack make a good noise. It is good original material in a punk vein. Their songs address a number of feminist issues in an irreverent way, their lyrics are direct and delivered with attitude and humour in equal measure. The track 'Gok Wan'* challenges the physical 'ideal' that TV and and style/fashion magazines would have young women strive for.
'Gok Wan' Panic Shack
Later With Jools Holland
November 2025
'I squat for two hours a day
Not enough to keep the red ring of shame away
If my stomach is flat and my ass is perky
Maybe I can get everybody to like me
Fingers for dinner, starving yourself
Trinny and Susannah stacked on the shelf
Vertical stripes and skipping meals
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.'
Another track pockets bemoans the absence of pockets in clothing designed for women. This presumably being intended not to ruin the line of the garment.. but it does mean that the wearer end up carrying a bag.
When the music slows, the band move into a post-punk territory. One reviewer mentioned a hint of the Young, Marble Giants, which I can kind of pick up with a song like 'We Need To Talk About Dennis'.
At this point I did look them up and discovered they are a five piece that formed in Cardiff back in 2018. Their debut album, also called 'Panic Shack' was released last year following on from a handful of singles. It doesn't take long to go through their entire output and having done so I was left with the impression of a modern Slits. No bad thing at all and that band's influence was confirmed in a short interview that I read online. When asked if their could play any gig with anyone they answered that they would go back to 1977 to play with The Clash and The Slits.
In an environment of increasing toxic masculinity and incels, the world can do with more bands like Panic Shack.
* Gok Wan is a British TV presenter and fashion consultant who hosted a popular TV series in the UK called 'How To Look Good Naked'.
FLAC: https://we.tl/t-QK1jQbfZZD2pEsPG
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-zvHa6nnR5YxtroUP
Thanks again to Peter for the share and to David Devant for photo of the band at the Zeche Carl in Esssen used for the front cover.
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