Cardiff punks Panic Shack return with ‘grin & bear it’, a snarling, fizzing blast of righteous fury aimed squarely at the grind of overwork, exhaustion and quietly losing your mind while pretending everything’s absolutely fine. Frankly, it’s all a little bit too relatable right now.
Produced by Ross Orton, the track feels bigger and grittier than some of Panic Shack’s earlier material, all blazing guitars, shouted hooks and tightly coiled frustration. You can hear why the band held onto this one until it sounded exactly right.
“This song has had many iterations,” the band explain. “It almost made it onto our debut album, but it just wasn’t where it needed to be; we felt it didn’t have enough grit – until now.”
That grit really comes through. Sarah Harvey’s vocals have a proper bite to them here, tearing into “the rat race” with the kind of fury that only comes from actually living it. There’s something deeply relatable about a song born from lyrics scribbled during a lonely nightshift while juggling jobs and gigging.
What Panic Shack continue to do brilliantly is balance humour, chaos and sharp songwriting without losing any emotional punch. ‘grin & bear it’ feels simultaneously like a stress-induced breakdown and the best night out you’ve had in months.
The accompanying DIY tour video captures that energy perfectly too.
“We left no graffiti’d wall un-lip synced in front of,”
say the band, documenting life on the road during their recent German tour.
With North American headline dates, major festival appearances, and shows with the Sex Pistols and Super Furry Animals lined up this year, Panic Shack sound less like a rising band now and more like a band fully kicking the door off its hinges.
★ PANIC SHACK LIVE 2026 ★
MAY
22 – Derby, UK – Bearded Theory Festival †
23 – North Shields, UK – A Stone’s Throw Festival †
28 – Brussels, BE – Les Nuits Botanique
29 – Hellendoorn, NL – Dauwpop Festival †
JUNE
9 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis
10 – Somerville, MA – The Rockwell
12 – Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
13 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
14 – New Kensington, PA – Preserving Underground
16 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck Bar
18 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge
19 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest Festival †
21 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
24 – Portland, OR – Polaris Hall
25 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt
26 – Seattle, WA – Baba Yaga
28 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
29 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
JULY
2 – Llangollen, UK – Live at Llangollen #
5 – Ewijk, NL – Down The Rabbit Hole Festival †
11 – Halifax, UK – Piece Hall *
26 – Southwold, UK – Latitude Festival †
AUGUST
1 – Cardiff, UK – Cardiff Castle *
15 & 16 – Winchester, UK – Boomtown Festival †
23 – Crickhowell, UK – Green Man Festival †
28 – La Tour-de-peilz, CH – Nox Orae Festival †
30 – Lisbon, PT – Meo Kalorama Festival †
SEPTEMBER
11 – Dallas, TX – Longhorn Ballroom & Backyard Amphitheater *
12 – Austin, TX – Emo’s *
13 – Houston, TX – House of Blues Houston *
15 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works *
17 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *
20 – Ottawa, ON – CityFolk Festival †
21 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY *
22 – Montréal, QC – L’Olympia *
24 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti *
25 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall *
26 – New York, NY – CBGB Festival †
† = Festival Appearance
* = w/ Sex Pistols
# = w/ Super Furry Animals