South London sibling duo PUNCHBAG have signed to Mute Records and today release their debut single ‘Fuck It’. Swinging between dizzying extremes, where unapologetically sugar-sweet pop hooks clash with radical leftfield production; where emotional overwhelm can be purged in the space of a single throwaway lyric; where lines are blurred and redrawn between aggression and joy, softness and toughness, PUNCHBAG (consisting of Clara and Anders Bach) are a band who immediately grab attention.
Debut single ‘Fuck It’ introduces the duo with a grand wash of entrancing synths and piercing beats. Vocalist Clara sings of a life buffeted by anxiety and the fear of wasting time, as instrumental momentum builds and builds. Then, just short of escape velocity, everything flips on its head. Guitarist and producer Anders’ overdriven punk guitars attack in plunging dives as the vocal suddenly flips in tone; sharp, snippy and unabashed. “We might as well just say go fuck it!” Clara exclaims. “’Cos we’re all gonna die, die, die!”
Clara insists:
“It’s not nihilistic. It’s more like, we only have so much time, so do the thing you want to do. Kiss the person you want to kiss, say that thing you want to say.”
Whispers of PUNCHBAG’s knock-out live performances have been growing in volume since they played their first show less than a year ago. Shows have since included being invited by Windmill Brixton to play at Left of the Dial in Rotterdam. Colliding the raw unfiltered energy of punk with the overflowing ecstasy of pop, from the off they demonstrated an uncanny skill for commanding a crowd.
“We take it seriously,” says Clara. “We’ve thought about it a lot, and it was important that from the first time we performed it was fully formed. We’re Virgos. We’re perfectionists.
At the end of the set, I just scream until everyone’s jumping. We want it to be cathartic, but also really joyful. Joy is one of the things that you can’t really argue with, it’s not an opinion – you can either get involved or not.”
Anders admits: “We’d rather someone had a strong adverse reaction to our music than it be just played in the background.”
PUNCHBAG self-released a visualiser for their song ‘Pretty Youth’ on YouTube late 2024. A song written about their “journey through erratic highs and gross lows of the idealised ‘coming of age’ experience”, the song’s visuals, shot by Jonni Wedge dutifully capture the potent intensity of PUNCHBAG’s live performance.
PUNCHBAG Live Dates
February
21 Dublin, Borderline Festival
26 London, The Lower Third (Soho Calling ILMC)
March
06 London, Sebright Arms (w/ Nightbus)
15 Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall (Dark Arts All Dayer)
29 Bristol, Ritual Union Festival
May
16 Brighton, The Great Escape Festival
For more information on Punchbag please check their instagram.
