Cardiff upstarts Panic Shack released their debut single in February and are back today with the excellent “Jiu Jits You”. The effervescent new track finds the foursome at their most characterful, which makes sense given its inspiration, which vocalist Sarah Harvey explains:
“On one of our first band outings to a bar, we were scribbling lyrics and ideas onto a paper plate when a group of guys kept barging into our conversation to chat us up, they were buying us cocktails we hadn’t asked for and we had to politely decline… they were interrupting our creative flow.
“Ems and Romi had been to a jiu jitsu class the week before so when we came up with jiu jits-YOU it was essentially a stroke of genius, we found it hilarious. The whole way home that evening we were freestyling lyrics based off the new found jiu jitsu theme and our uncomfortable interaction with the men from the bar… we had started something special.“
On “Jiu Jits You”, Panic Shack put us right in this setting, beginning with the lip-curled spoken-word intro: “Erm, excuse me, my friend was sitting there…” From there, the band whips us up into a state of fun-tinged frustration with their taut indie-punk style. It’s the perfect backing for this tale of getting their own back, as they bubble over with fury and warn this offending party that they do jiu jitsu and are willing and ready to take them for a scrap outside. Filled with “woo”s and “hi-ya”s, “Jiu Jits You” is cartoonish – but you’re left knowing you certainly wouldn’t want to mess with this bunch.
The vibrant video for “Jiu Jits You”, crafted by guitarist Meg Fretwell, adds to the grindhouse-meets-graphic novel aesthetic. Check it out below.
“Jiu Jits You” and previous single “Who’s Got My Lighter” are out now on Brace Yourself Records. Follow Panic Shack on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
