Just over a month after the release of ‘Mannequin Man’, Cardiff’s Panic Shack have given us yet another taste of their upcoming EP in the form of ‘The Ick’.
With driving bass and drums, the latest offering is a short but sweet slice of indie-punk, dripping in witty lyricism that details the process of that well known modern-day dating dilemma, ‘the ick’.
Describing the process as ‘that feeling when you’re dating someone and they do something that really turns you off’, the track came to fruition on a song-writing holiday turned ‘five-day drinking binge’. Inspired by shared ‘anecdotes’ and ‘past dating fails’, it’s so great and so relatable, Sarah’s almost spoken word delivery capturing the exact moments relationships derailed from their promising starts to ‘You put me off mate/ You make me squirm’.
Transitioning from being ‘nice and chill’, we’re immediately introduced to a moment of real heathen behaviour, the dreaded ‘You put the milk in first’. And safe to say this cuppa-making red flag made things go South fast, Sarah stating ‘You basically handed me the hammer/ Practically placed the nail onto the wood/ Smashed that nail firmly into the coffin’.
To make matters worse, the band reminds us that all the track’s lyrics are ‘actual things that happened’, repeated nail-in-coffin lyrics coming once again as they were ‘ssshh’d’ in the cinema.
Closing the single with ‘I can’t even look you in the eye anymore/ I cross the road when I see you coming/ I’ve got the ick’, the band reiterates that no matter how ‘insignificant or trivial’, the ick is ‘irreversible’.
With a lyric so hilariously relatable, it’s exactly the light relief I think we could all do with right now, as well as a reminder that, milk in first (?!), you’ll be single forever.
So, be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for the release of their debut EP, Baby Shack, due April 8th.