Panic Shack Bring Punk Chaos to MASH Cambridge
Two shows into their tour and with their debut album just around the corner, Panic Shack deliver a brash, physical, and spirited performance at MASH in Cambridge.
When it comes to Panic Shack, uncompromising feels like an understatement. When vocalist Sarah Harvey walks onto the stage at 8pm sharp in a tank top with the words ‘industry plant’ written across it, you know you’re getting a band who aren’t playing by the rules of the music business. They do their own thing, and they do it loudly.
Panic Shack, the Cardiff-based punk outfit known for their fiery DIY spirit and chaotic charm, have built a reputation for turning everyday annoyances into riotous anthems.
Thunderous, ravishing punk grooves? That’s something plenty of bands can deliver, but very few can pair that electric rush of adrenaline with such mundane subject matter as well as Panic Shack. When I say this band makes buying a Tesco meal deal sound like the most epic thing in the world, I mean it.
Emily Smith on bass is key to their success. The bass lines aren’t just the foundation of these songs – they’re the pulse. Their surprisingly intricate too, with Smith’s fingers running along the frets with ravenous precision, injecting so many of these songs with this unique, meaty energy that permeates your veins.
The highlight of the setlist comes with I Don’t Really Like It, which starts off teasingly slow before ratcheting up the tempo, reaching its sprawling climax as Sarah Harvey joins us in the crowd, less for the show, and more just for the pure joy of it. You could see it in her beaming smile.
Somehow the momentum never wavers, and every bead of sweat that hits your forehead only affirms that you’re watching something special, even as you increasingly become a passenger in a crowd that seems to compress tighter together as the night goes on like everyone is sharing a heartbeat.
No moment of the night captured Panic Shack’s furiously single-minded approach to inclusivity than the very start. “Free Palestine,” yells Emily Smith, “and if you disagree, the door’s right there.” If their upcoming debut album is half as joyful and urgent as their live show, we’re in for a real treat.
