More Music, More Chaos: Panic Shack Takes Over

“We really put our asses into that album and we reaped the rewards. We were begging for it, hands on our knees.”

That’s Panic Shack, unfiltered. The Cardiff-born rock band who’ve spent the last seven years sharpening their sound, surviving chaotic pub nights, and somehow turning drunken anecdotes into punk anthems. And now? Their debut album has landed at number one on the UK Rock and Metal Albums Chart.

The Welsh punk-rock five-piece — Sarah Harvey on lead vocals, Meg Fretwell on guitar and backing vocals, Romi Lawrence on guitar and backing vocals, Emily Smith on bass, and Nick Doherty-Williams on drums formed in 2018 with the goal of shaking up the scene and making space for everyone, and now hitting number one feels surreal but entirely earned. “It felt great,” they admit, “like an absolute relief.”

Their story started simply, as friends wanting to play for fun. Romi and Emily knew each other from school, while Meg, Sarah, and Emily crossed paths working together at Latch in Cardiff. The friendships came first, the music followed, and what began as mates hanging out soon turned into writing songs that were too good to keep to themselves. “We just wanted to make a band because it’s fun, We’re great friends and we thought we’d write banging songs, and it turns out we do.”

Songwriting for the rock band has never been about sitting in a room to polish lyrics until they gleam, it’s about lived experiences, nights out, and all the little things that piss them off. “Pretty much every song is a literal thing that happened to us in the last few years. It’s cathartic to get it all out.”

Their humor shines through even in the messiest moments and their track Unhinged off their debut album is the perfect example: “We took it from one of our dating Hinge profiles and every lyric is actually a man’s prompt, and they’re all really fucking stupid. No offence to them.” Writing it was almost too easy. “We didn’t lift a finger. We just said them out loud, laughed about them, and rearranged them until they made sense in a song.”

But not every track came together like that. Girlband Starter Pack was a song they’d been carrying for years. “It never felt right until we reworked it this last time. That was probably the hardest one.” Then there’s the infamous We Need to Talk About Dennis track. The title, they admit, wasn’t easy. “Dennis is actually Sarah’s alter ego. He’s had a few too many, and he’s a menace to us and to society. He’s been known to jump on the back of a street sweeper in Cardiff and do the worm. And there are more stories. Maybe you’ll meet him one day.”

The band’s rise from their early days as Baby Shack to Panic Shack has been a wild, seven-year evolution built on friendship, trial and error, and persistence. “We didn’t know what we were doing at first,” they admit, but now, it’s evident that they’ve practiced, grown and evolved, and what makes them more magnetic is their undeniable chemistry, which they never take for granted.

“We’re best friends through and through. That’s never changed. Every show feels different, something crazy always happens, and we always find each other hilarious. That keeps it fresh.”

That energy is about to be tested again as they head out on their debut UK-EU album tour, with stops in London, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Margate, and beyond. When asked about their favourite cities to play in, the responses fly around, “I’m kind of excited for Margate. We’ve never been there and we’ve heard a lot about it” one says, “but honestly? I’m gagging for Europe, Berlin—so many places we’ve never played before.”

With Meg often holding things together and Sarah—aka Dennis—most likely to spark chaos, the band admits touring life isn’t always smooth. But whether it’s pre-show or post-show, they keep their rituals consistent: vodka or tequila, followed by a trip to the gym the next morning to sweat it all out.

Despite their strong personalities, the group admits that creative disagreements never seem to spiral. “Honestly, we don’t disagree. We literally always have the same thought. Maybe it’s being women, but none of us let our egos get involved. We like hearing each other’s ideas. If it gets really annoying, we just fight—scrap on the floor. But we’re never malicious. That’s why it works.”

Songs like Girlband Starter Pack and Gok Wan often get labeled as feminist statements, but the band say the meaning usually reveals itself after the fact. “We don’t sit down to write with a message in mind. Our experiences just make the songs what they are. With Gok Wan, yeah, we wanted to sing about body image. But most of the time, we realise later there’s meaning.

When asked about representing women in rock, they’re firm:

“I just want to be a musician. I don’t want to carry the torch for women in rock, Men don’t have to do that, so why should we? It shouldn’t be a thing.”

Even with a number one album, the band is still dreaming big. “We want to go to Australia. Japan. Korea. Eat some banging food. Quit our jobs—that’s a humble goal, isn’t it? We want this to be our job. And yeah, free stuff would be nice too.”

They laugh when asked about swapping instruments. “Nick should be on the mic—he can sing. Romi would thrive on guitar because she already plays. Emily could try bass, but there’s no way I could do what she does. Sarah can do the worm across the stage though, that’s her instrument.”

So what can fans expect from Panic Shack in 2026, You may ask? “All of it. More music. More chaos. More dance moves. All that smoke.”

Listen to Panic Shack’s New Album Panic Shack

Read more Cover Stories from KLATMAG

Cover: Panic Shack @panicshack

Creative Direction/Photography by Taiye Omokore @taiye_omokore

Styling: Sarah Valentin @zolibeau

Video Editor: Nmabuobi Oba @nmabuobi

Writer: Angel Okonkwo @_angeljo

Assistant Producer: Gustina Gray @gustinagray

Interviewer: Mali Jones @mali_elinor

Studio: Timber Yard Studio @timber_yard_studio

Designers: @hausofandrogyny @tyleredgarlt @daticlothing