One of the things I love about Glastonbury, one of the many, many things I love about Glastonbury, is discovering new bands. You may hear about a new band beforehand and set out to check them out, you may get a recommendation from someone on site, or you may just happen upon a stage where a great new band is playing. It’s all part of the fun.
Left Field is always a good stage for new bands. This year Mr Bragg and his co-organisers sent out links to all of the bands playing there so we could add a few more names to our clashes. Cassyette or Foo Fighters? Kid Kapichi or Manics? Tom A Smith or Blondie? Big Joanie or Shame?
I didn’t know Big Joanie before I went, but they didn’t disappoint. They describe themselves as a “Black feminist punk band”. What’s not to like? Three lasses from London, augmented on stage with an extra guitar/keyboards, they do indeed mix punk and politics with passion. Their excellent music mixes a range of styles including meaty hooks, Sleater-Kinney Riot Grrrl, big beaty drum grooves, and dreamlike Dum Dum Girl pop. Fittingly for Left Field, Big Joanie wear their hearts on their sleeves. Among over appeals, we get a heartfelt plea for solidarity with our trans brothers and sisters. As Uncut says “They are the sort of band who would send Jacob Rees-Mogg running in terror to Nanny”. I love ’em.
On the Thursday night, I got a recommendation to head to Shangri-La from someone I used to work with. After fighting with the one-way system and the crowds, I got to the Truth stage in time to see Panic Shack play their last number. However, I saw enough to persuade me to see them again at Strummerville the following evening.
Strummerville is miles from anywhere, but well worth checking out, whether you want to relax by the campfire or check out a band. And Panic Shack are an excellent band. Four lasses from Cardiff who are clearly having an enormous amount of fun. You can’t believe everything you read online, so Panic Shack may or may not have met while performing synchronised swimming in a bath bomb shop in Cardiff. The obvious reference is the Slits, which is no surprise because Panic Shack tell us they have all read Viv Albertine’s autobiography “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.”. Clothes, music, boys: what’s not to like? They would fit perfectly along with the Subway Sect and Buzzcocks supporting the Clash in 1977: plenty of buzzsaw guitars and bass guitar runs, but also echoes of the Mekons, Poly Styrene, & Kleenex. Or Amyl & the Sniffers if your memory is not that long.
You’ll have to pay silly money for a copy of their 2022 debut EP. With luck, new stuff will be on the way soon.
Only one thing, girls: you do have to put the milk in first.
Some of the best Glastonbury moments are when you happen to be passing a stage and hear an amazing band that you’ve never come across before. Walking past Glastonbury-on-Sea, I noticed some lads trying to cram themselves into one of the smaller stages at the Festival: 1000 Farces. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the look: skinny jeans, paisley shirts, and shaggy moptops. 1966 revisited. This could be good. I stuck around to see what they sounded like and was rewarded with more echoes of 1966. They call what they play “Ramones-speed Maximum R&B” and it sounds as good as that description. Part Yardbirds, part Eddie and the Hot Rods. Part Feelgoods, part Kinks. Plenty of energy, R&B riffs, wailing harmonica, and a sprinkling of pop sensibility.
They call themselves “Us”, an obvious reference to Van Morrison’s first band. They are five lads from Finland: three brothers and a couple of mates. They’ve been playing 60s influenced music since 2015. They released 3 albums under their previous name “Grandmother Corn” which has one benefit: it’s much easier to google than their current name. Check out their single “Paisley Underground” on Spotify.
Panic Shack: the wildest – and funniest – live band you’ll see all year (nme.com)
The Ned Wood Archive 