New music review with singles from cheerbleederz 'i deserved better' and Panic Shack 'Pockets'
- Julia Mason aka The Decibel Decoder
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her new music review with singles from cheerbleederz i deserved better and Panic Shack Pockets
Artist: cheerbleederz
Track: i deserved better
London indie punk trio cheerbleederz have announced their new EP titled prove me wrong, set for release on 5 September 2025 via Alcopop! Records. To celebrate the band share the lead single i deserved better.
Commenting on the track, guitarist Kathryn Woods says: “i deserved better is about knowing your self worth, and recognising when you're in a rut. The chorus doesn't even have any real words, but sometimes you don't need 'em!”
The EP, prove me wrong, addresses broader themes of taking control of your own life and responsibility for yourself, and feeling disillusioned with growing older and apart from friends. “If your friendships don't serve you anymore, or they feel more like a competition, it's time to let go!” says drummer Phoebe Cross. “Feeling a bit defeated after a hang with a friend is not how you should feel.”
It was recorded across multiple sessions with long-time collaborator and producer Rich Mandell (Fresh, Supermilk, Happy Accidents) in the live room at The Bookhouse Studio, London, and his new studio space in the same building. cheerbleederz will make their live return this September 2025 with a short run of UK headline tour dates, followed by a support slot with LAKES on 22 November at The Underworld, London.
cheerbleederz Live Dates
September
4 - London - The Ivy House
5 - Manchester - The Castle
6 - Norwich - Space Studios
7 - Oxford - Common Ground
November
22 - London - Underworld (w/ LAKES)
* * *
Artist: Panic Shack
Track: Pockets
The day before Cardiff's Panic Shack released their debut album, they shared a final single Pockets. It's a fizzing and vitriolic rager that leaps out of the gates with a chant of its oft-repeated refrain "VAPE! PHONE! KEYS! LIP GLOSS!" which is emblematic of so much of what makes the five-piece's debut album so special. It takes an underrepresented but very tangible issue affecting women today, laces it with biting humour and a knowing wink, and packages it in a danceable-punk blinder. The politicisation of the pocket has begun.
Of the track, the band explain: "Pockets is about an unspoken bond between women, something men will never quite understand. If you’ve ever worn women’s clothing, you’ll be far too familiar with the plight of… NOT HAVING ANY POCKETS IN YOUR CLOTHES. It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek song in classic Shack style, describing something a bit silly but with a deeper social commentary on a bigger issue: inequality and patriarchal control. We had never heard the topic in a song before so thought it was our duty to spread the word to the masses. Hopefully fashion brands take note and pockets production will make it to women’s clothing by 2026, we are fed up of always having to carry a bag!!!"
Pockets comes accompanied by an eye-popping video documenting Panic Shack's largely sold-out Don't Quit Your Day Job tour across the UK this May, providing a brief glimpse into the live mania of their gigs. The band head out across the UK and Europe later this year in support of the album with dates running October to December and including some of the biggest rooms the five-piece have headlined to date, culminating in a double-header of London's Brixton Electric on 4 December and Cardiff's Tramshed on 5 December.
Panic Shack Live Dates
July
22 | Southampton, UK - Vinilo
23 | London, UK - Rough Trade East [sold out]
24 | Brighton, UK - Resident Records [sold out]
August
1 | Derbyshire, UK - Y Not Festival
2 | Somerset, UK - Outcider Festival
14 | Charleville-Mézières, FR - Cabaret Vert Festival
16 | Devon, UK - Beautiful Days Festival
October
9 | Margate, UK - Where Else
10 | Brighton, UK - Chalk
11 | Cambridge, UK - New Shiny Festival
12 | Bristol, UK - SWX
Oct 15th | Sheffield, UK - Foundry
Oct 16th | Manchester, UK - Academy 2
Oct 17th | Glasgow, UK - Garage
Oct 18th | Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
November
6 | Reykjavik, IS - Iceland Airwaves Festival
15 | Leeds, UK - Live at Leeds in the City
19 | Antwerp, BE - Trix Bar
20 | Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
21 | Hamburg, DE - Molotow
22 | Cologne, DE - Yuca
24 | Berlin, DE - Lark
25 | Munich, DE - Orange House
28 | Paris, FR - Festival Les Femmes S'en Mêlent
30 | Madrid, ES - Wurlitzer
December
1 | Barcelona, ES - Upload
4 | London, UK - Electric Brixton
5 | Cardiff, UK - Tramshed
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