Cardiff-based Panic Shack conclude their debut headline tour at The Bodega...
Combining high-octane guitar-led punk with bizarre and humorous song topics, Cardiff-based Panic Shack have been earning acclaim on a national scale, culminating in their debut headline tour. On its concluding night at The Bodega, the band translated the energy in their music into a live setting with fantastic results.
Following an impressive set from support act Shelf Lives - whose Sleaford Mods-esque instrumentals and lyrics harking back to the Riot Grrrl movement are sure to earn them success in their own right - the Welsh rockers took to the stage, opening with Baby, a song that celebrates a child-free existence. Mannequin Man, which expresses frustration at the existence of human statues, followed, before the band changed the atmosphere in The Bodega with I Don’t Really Like It.
I Don’t Really Like It is a captivating song that, in their own words, is “for anyone who has felt spoken down to, patronised or ‘mansplained’ to.” What makes it unique is its simplicity: there are only four lines within the song, which are repeated in a round by each of the band’s vocalists.
Many fantastic songs have been written on the topic of sexism (see the aforementioned Riot Grrrl movement for examples) but the repetition of “when you look at me like that, I don't really like it” conveys the uneasy gut feeling of these misogynistic encounters in a way which few previously have managed.
This was especially true when tested live, with the track’s central guitar riff increasing in speed mimicking the way in which these situations can get dangerous masterfully. The manner in which this song managed to overwhelm me, and recreate the uncomfortable feelings that the lyrics are describing, show why it’s such a defining track for the band.
With “the serious stuff” (as described by frontwoman Sarah Harvey) out of the way, the five-piece returned to the brilliantly bizarre with Jiu Jits You. Although completely different in tone, this track acts as the yin to I Don’t Really Like It’s yang, as it describes the band using their Jiu Jitsu skills to fight back against the type of men described in the previous song. Of course, this song would not have been complete without a demonstration of their craft, which was performed in the form of a mid-song dance break.
As an upcoming band, the only way is seemingly up for Panic Shack, a fact they cemented with a litany of fantastic new cuts. What should reassure pre-existing fans of the band is that they’ve not lost their sense of humour - as Cash Piggy perfectly exemplified. Whilst appealing for a sugar daddy to “give us your cash,” the band managed to throw in some “oink” sound effects, as well as a mid-song cover of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name.
As a band on their first ever headline tour, it might have been the expectation for Panic
Shack to be somewhat sheepish in front of a packed-out Bodega. However, this was not at
all the case, with audience interaction being a key tactic used to enliven the proceedings.
For example, breakout single Meal Deal was preceded by the band going round the room
surveying everyone’s three items of choice. The track itself matched the exceptional pre-
song antics, capturing in its bone-rattling speed the urgentness of surviving the cost of living
crisis, whilst simultaneously finding the mundanities of everyday life in lyrics such as “I’m
going out for a meal deal, ‘cos my house is f***ing freezing!”
After announcing that it would be their last song, the band launched into Who’s Got My
Lighter, a characteristically punchy track from their Baby Shack EP. It maintained the energy
of the previous hour, and would have been a fantastic closer within its own right, but Panic
Shack had a surprise up their sleeve.
Having admitted to fibbing to the crowd (as well as a well-earned round of tequila shots), they declared that Who’s Got My Lighter may have been the last of their songs, but they still had time for a cover version of Electric Six’s Gay Bar.
It was an inspired choice, a song that fantastically summed up the spirit of seeing Panic Shack live - a chaotic, messy, and unfailingly fun experience. As they continue to release music, I see no reason why they can’t continue to bring this intensity to bigger crowds.
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