As heard on the LOUD WOMEN Radio show last night … Cardiff’s finest troublemakers Panic Shack are back, and this time they’re coming for your body-shaming, patriarchal bullshit with a track so sharp it could slice a copy of Heat magazine in half. ‘Gok Wan’ is a riotous, tongue-in-cheek middle finger to the toxic makeover culture we all survived in the noughties — and it’s as catchy as it is cathartic.
“The title ‘Gok Wan’ comes from the show he presented How To Look Good Naked which in all honestly was one of the better shows, in terms of negativity but still obviously had the main focus on women’s bodies. No hate to Gok (Trinny and Susannah didn’t have the same ring to it for a title), it was the time we lived in and through but it was still shit, it still shaped our little teenager minds into this grown up hellscape of constantly focusing on how we look rather than what we do.”
From the first fuzzed-out riff, Panic Shack make it clear they’re not here to politely discuss the damage those “fat or pregnant?” headlines did to teenage girls’ self-worth — they’re here to shred it all down to the bones. Sarah Harvey’s vocals are a glorious mix of snotty sneer and full-throated fury, and the whole band are tighter than a pair of low-rise jeans after a Gregg’s pasty.
Lyrically, it’s clever, funny and brutally relatable. Lines ripped straight from the pages of trashy mags become weapons in Panic Shack’s hands. The chorus will lodge itself in your head quicker than a toxic beauty standard, but at least this time it comes with a side of righteous rage and mosh-pit joy.
The video for ‘Gok Wan’ is a glorious, chaotic takedown of the toxic fitness and makeover culture that dominated the 00s. Featuring the band decked out in skin-tight lycra and sky-high heels, Panic Shack throw themselves into absurd workout routines straight from the pages of Heat and Cosmo, dripping with satire and sweat. It’s part home workout VHS nightmare, part feminist performance art — tongue-in-cheek brilliance.
When I interviewed Panic Shack for the LOUD WOMEN radio show, they told me they’d even reached out to Gok Wan himself to let him know about their new single. So far, he’s declined to comment — but after hearing ‘Gok Wan’, he might just want to.
Tour dates:
May 1st | Nottingham, UK – Bodega [sold out]
May 2nd | Cambridge, UK – MASH
May 3rd | Norwich, UK – Norwich Arts Centre
May 6th | Brighton, UK – Patterns
May 8th | Birmingham, UK – The Castle & Falcon
May 9th | Wrexham, UK – FOCUS Wales
May 10th | Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
May 11th | Newcastle, UK – Cluny
May 13th | Glasgow, UK – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
May 14th | Sheffield, UK – Yellow Arch Studios [sold out]
May 15th | Liverpool, UK – Arts Club
May 16th | Manchester, UK – Band on the Wall
May 18th | Oxford, UK – The Bullingdon [sold out]
May 19th | Southampton, UK – Papillon
May 20th | Milton Keynes, UK – Craufurd Arms
May 22nd | Bristol, UK – Thekla [sold out]
May 23rd | Port Talbot, UK – In It Together Festival
May 25th | Newport, UK – Corn Exchange
May 28th | London, UK – The Garage
July 10th | Cheltenham, UK – Upcote Farm
July 18th | Portishead, UK – Homestead Festival