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Review of Boxing Club's new release 'Father and State' from debut EP

  • Writer: Richard Blowes
    Richard Blowes
  • Feb 23
  • 2 min read

Boxing Club release Father and State as the centrepiece of their debut EP What’s The State Done To You?

Track: Father and State

Artist: Boxing Club

Released: February 20 2026


Front cover artwork for Boxing Club's debut EP 'What’s the State Done to You?'

After second single City Boy and their excellent debut Barbra, London/Glasgow four piece Boxing Club have released their debut EP What’s The State Done To You? It contains those two previous singles along with new tracks Kennishead Avenue and what the band bill as the EP's centrepiece, Father and State.


The band bring to mind Manic Street Preachers - not in the way they sound but in that everything they do has a political edge; political as in the way power is exercised and decisions made, whether by the state or a peer group. Even the phrase boxing club is a nod to one of the few organisations in which working class boys could feel a sense of belonging and potentially escape from a pre ordained path of hopelessness.


The track opens with driving post punk urgency reminiscent of The Strokes or Interpol ... it moves on apace with harmonious tonal shifts even as the lyrics jar and puncture any sense of ease or complacency: "What's your mother done for you? She never cooked a decent meal"


Father and State explicitly explores how conflict - both familial or systemic - affects young lives and maybe shapes a future of destruction or deliverance before a child is old enough to know they have their own agency.


The track opens with driving post punk urgency reminiscent of The Strokes or Interpol but as soon as the vocals kick in with "What's your father done to you? Your face is black and blue" you know you are in Shuggie Bain rather than bored bairn territory. The track doesn't let up, either musically or emotionally. It moves on apace with harmonious tonal shifts even as the lyrics jar and puncture any sense of ease or complacency: "What's your mother done for you? She never cooked a decent meal"; "You're designed by nothing new at all, children raising children".


Overall the EP is a bold and bracing and listen and harks back to a time when bands weren't afraid to frame and confront issues through a personal lens rather than just railing against 'the unfair system'. A refreshing and excellent debut.


London/Glasgow post punks Boxing Club have released their debut EP What’s the State Done to You?

Forged from London’s underground gig circuit in 2024, Boxing Club are a four-piece bridging the Glasgow/London divide.


Produced by Michael Smith (RYP Recordings) and released via 18 Carat Love Affair, What’s the State Done to You? expands on the band’s early outings and sharpens them into a more mature, assured statement. You can find them on Instagram here.




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