PANIC SHACK + THE PILL – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 6.5.25
It’s fair to state that when we discover an exciting new act that we truly feel is good enough to make the big breakthrough, we really get behind that particular act. Some might have noted that we are rather keen on Cardiff outfit Panic Shack and over the past three years we have reviewed them no less than 13 times!
These being:
‘The Great Escape’, Brighthelm Centre, Brighton 13.5.22
‘Rebellion’ After Dark & RIS, Blackpool 4.8.22
‘Ritual Union Festival’, Rough Trade, Bristol 1.10.22
‘Rockaway Beach’, Bognor Regis 6.1.23
Lexington, London 14.2.23
The Forum, Tunbridge Wells 15.2.23
The Prince Albert, Brighton 16.2.23
‘Latitude’, Henham Park, Suffolk 21.7.23
‘End Of The Road Festival’, Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire 3.9.23
Chalk, Brighton 24.11.23
The Prince Albert, Brighton 23.3.24
‘Victorious Festival’, Southsea 25.8.24
Brighton Dome 15.10.24
This evening they are headlining Patterns in Brighton courtesy of LOUT and not surprisingly it’s a long sold out event. Panic Shack are very much a band on the up, and literally a few hours before this evening’s gig, they announced that they will be returning to Brighton on 10th October, where they will be playing the much larger Chalk venue, and they also announced details of their debut album – Further information HERE.
Panic Shack comprise Sarah Harvey (lead vocals), Meg Fretwell (guitar and bv’s), Romi Lawrence (guitar and bv’s) and Emily Smith (bass and bv’s) along with the assistance of Nick Doherty-Williams (drums), and they have come armed with brash, witty lyrics and killer hooks. They have crashed through the UK music scene with a tidal wave of ear-crunching punk loveliness and as a result have built up a sizeable reputation for their raw, unapologetic live shows and off-kilter songs, and DIY ethics. It’s not just us raving about this Welsh punk outfit as they have also earned support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music, Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders, Radio X, Bob Vylan, and PRS.
It’s clear that this band have started something special and this has certainly been noted by festival lineup bookers throughout the land, on account of them having played a host of prestigious stages including The Great Escape, End Of The Road, Latitude Festival, Rebellion Festival, Green Man Festival, Liverpool Sound City, Cardiff Castle, and 2000 Trees Festival, as well as joining bands like The Wytches, Grandma’s House, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Soft Play (fka Slaves).
As you would expect, Patterns this evening is filled to the brim and includes quite a large Brighton & Hove News contingent in da house! We are in for a real treat during their 52 minute 13 tune set, which ran from 8:50pm until 9:42pm.
The Patterns stage is a compact one and the metal crowd barriers are all that sits between the fans and the band. We are literally inches away from the action and camped at the very front for that bird’s eye view. They take to the stage and Sarah offers “What’s up Brighton” and they are off with the drumming and rumbling bass led ‘Gok Wan’, the first of six cuts from their forthcoming ‘Panic Shack’ album. It’s a solid start and there is joy in the air. Next up is ‘Baby’ which is the first of a handful of songs found on 2022’s ‘Baby Shack’ EP. It’s a true punk earworm ditty! This is followed by the tune that got me into the band, namely ‘Mannequin Man’, which is from the same EP. I just love their different poses throughout the song, it’s a lighthearted affair that brings smiles across the crowds faces.
We are then informed that the next song is a brand new one, it’s titled ‘Girl Band Starter Pack’, and has a bass and drums intro with a skippy almost dance beat. It’s an absolute corker and dare I say even better than ‘Mannequin Man’, which proves that they are moving in the right direction. Trusted favourite ‘Jiu Jits You’ is given an airing with its talky style vocal delivery atop the speedy drumbeats and “Woo, yeah, ha!” earworm lyrics. Bassist Emily then flags up their merch table and especially the lanyards that they have on offer. “The lanyards” then becomes a standing (plugging) joke for the rest of the show. Thankfully they explained what the £5 lanyards are all about and that it will assist them getting into the album chart and that it offers purchasers two rough demo cuts as well.
Their 2022 ‘Meal Deal’ single is the band’s next choice with its immediate “Feed me, I’m skint and hungry; Just want a sarnie, nothing fancy; Feed me, I’m skint and hungry” chorus. We are then informed that the first ever love song they penned was ‘Thelma & Louise’ and this was about each other and yet again contains earworm lyrics, this time it’s “I lie for you; I die for you”. On the following tune, drummer Nick switched to the Roland electronic drumpads whilst a trio of the ladies sang in unison for ‘I Don’t Really Like It’ from their ‘Baby Shack’ EP. Part way through the tune they incorporated The Ting Tings ‘That’s Not My Name’ which slotted in perfectly and Sarah’s vocals on this were outstanding. They then moved onto ‘Do Something’ from the forthcoming album, it’s a punky tune to which Meg, Romi and Emily hit the deck and raised their legs in the air whilst still playing their Fender guitars and heavy metal rock style bass instruments.
After all that excitement, they had a brief rest whilst we were informed that a mere two hours into their tour they stopped at a service station and Emily saved a man’s life by performing the heimlich manoeuvre (abdominal thrust). Hearty applause was rewarded all round by the audience. There was another tune from the up-and-coming album up next, this being ‘Tit School’ which Sarah pointed out that her setlist had the added words “bounce tits” just in case she forgot. She didn’t and this “bouncey” track was delivered with aplomb. After this she enquired as to whether anyone in the crowd had a lighter. Initially no-one came forward, but Emily observed that someone out there must have one as she could smell it! Indeed so could I, as someone had clearly just had a joint. A chap did loan a lighter part-way through the tune, which naturally was ‘Who’s Got My Lighter?’ from the ‘Baby Shack’ EP. The vocals on this remind me of Phoebe Lunny of the Lambrini Girls and the beat is not far off the Ramones ‘We’re A Happy Family’, and thus this was for me their choice tune of the night.
We had to learn the chorus for the next track, which is called ‘Pockets’ and it will be on the new LP. We were encouraged to do so as they said they were shooting a video for it and thought that the Brighton crowd would like to contribute and so their chum wandered around with a video camera as they played and we sang the repeated “ Vape, phone, keys, lip gloss” chorus. It’s a real earworm! You’ve been warned! They signed off with ‘The Ick’ from their EP and that was it! Huge applause all round! There was no encore, as they obviously had to shift tons of lanyards!
Panic Shack:
Sarah Harvey – lead vocals
Meg Fretwell – guitar and bv’s
Romi Lawrence – guitar and bv’s
Emily Smith – bass and bv’s
Nick Doherty-Williams – drums
Panic Shack setlist:
‘Gok Wan’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘Baby’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP)
‘Mannequin Man’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP)
‘Girl Band Starter Pack’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘Jiu Jits You’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP)
‘Meal Deal’ (a 2022 single)
‘Thelma & Louise’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘I Don’t Really Like It’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP) (inc ‘That’s Not My Name’ The Ting Tings cover)
‘Do Something’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘Tit School’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘Who’s Got My Lighter?’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP)
‘Pockets’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
‘The Ick’ (from 2022 ‘Baby Shack’ EP)
If I was the actual promoter of tonight’s gig and they asked me who would I get in to support Panic Shack, I would immediately say The Pill as they are exactly like a mini version of Panic Shack. Clearly I’m not alone in thinking this as that’s exactly who the support act is. I first encountered Lily and Lottie, who are The Pill, a year ago when they supported Hinds for their intimate concerts at The Prince Albert. Even back then, they reminded me of Panic Shack, Pussyliquor and the Lambrini Girls. They were funny, lighthearted and played the exact punk rock music that I wanted to hear.
The Pill hail from the Isle Of Wight and one wag in the crowd tonight enquired whether they got here via ferry or hovercraft. Ferry was the reply due to the amount of gear they have. I must say, I do really love that hovercraft crossing, even if it is noisy, it’s great fun, just like The Pill. Blond haired Lily added that Brighton feels just like a home concert anyway, which probably explains why they have played here before, which was at Unbarred Brewery Taproom (located to the rear of London Road near Preston Circus) as part of the ‘JOY. Unbarred RSVP Party’ unofficial escape event.
They have posted on social media that they are a “Jank punk gal pal duo from the lil isle of wight”, but they do actually perform their concerts with a drummer each time. Tonight we were rewarded with a nine song repertoire, which ran for 35 minutes from 7:45pm to 8:20pm. They begin with a tuning strum and sound like the aforementioned Hinds, prior to the beat quickening and tons of energy are thrown our way (especially from Fender bassist Lottie) as they play their ‘Scaffolding Man’ single from last year. The energy continues with some superb punk rock in the form of the unreleased ‘Salt Father’ which was penned about sugar daddies. Track three is the not as fast, it’s their recent ‘Problem’ single which is followed by the rockier (and also unreleased) ‘Leo’ which was written about American actor and film producer Leonardo DiCaprio, and the fact that he never gets a woman his age, hence the “What’s the matter with you” lyrics.
The girls then enquire as to whether anyone likes “Club Penguin” and they weren’t referring to the multiplayer online game of the same name, but in fact online grooming, thus this unreleased track is called ‘16-60’. It has an enjoyable drum intro with that distinctive Buzzcocks style guitar twang. After this, Lottie apologised to the chap standing immediately in front of her as he was sporting a mullet haircut and the girls really don’t like them, cue their 2025 ‘Money Mullet’ single, which has a Velvet Underground/Joy Division ‘Sister Ray’ guitar sound going on, as well as some solid drumming. We were then asked how we arrived at the gig by Lily, I think she was expecting most folk to reply by car, which would have seamlessly segued right into their ‘Woman Driver’ 2024 single. But a spanner was thrown in the works as “by bus” was the most popular reply. Then Lottie observed about Cambridge and the amount of bicycles and nearly running four of them over. This track more than any other in their set reminds me of Brighton’s Pussyliquor.
We were then informed that there was a QR Code on their merch stall regarding their forthcoming EP which drops in two weeks time, probably 22nd May. It’s a song about being blond and ferocious. It turned out to be their ‘Bale Of Hay’ tune, which was a single from last year. This has an enjoyable bass and drums combo at the start. They concluded their performance with the epic 100mph punk epic ‘POSH’, which is sadly currently unreleased. Once again The Pill have delivered a witty take on the world from a young female perspective. They are a great band, so go and check them out!
The Pill:
Lily – vocals, guitar
Lottie – vocals, bass
? – drums
The Pill setlist:
‘Scaffolding Man’ (a 2024 single)
‘Salt Father’ (unreleased)
‘Problem’ (a 2025 single)
‘Leo’ (unreleased)
‘16-60’ (unreleased)
‘Money Mullet’ (a 2025 single)
‘Woman Driver’ (a 2024 single)
‘Bale Of Hay’ (a 2024 single)
‘POSH’ (unreleased)
