South London’s favourite sibling chaos agents are back.
PUNCHBAG — the duo of Clara and Anders Bach — have just dropped their second EP, ‘I Am Obsessed’, via Mute. It hits like a shot of espresso someone spiked with distortion pedals. Five tracks. Under fifteen minutes. Zero chill.
The EP arrives with a video for focus single Playing God — a track that started life as a Hinge date gone wrong and has since evolved into something way bigger and more pointed. Clara puts it plainly: “When there’s so much power being abused all the time, we don’t want to become numb to that and forget about it.” Consider it officially dedicated to every man steering a ship aground.
Zooming In Until It Gets Weird
The band’s own description of the EP might be the best press quote we’ve read all year: “If our first EP was a selfie, these new songs are like zooming in and thinking, ‘fucking hell my pores look huge’.” That’s the energy. ‘I Am Obsessed’ takes PUNCHBAG’s already-maximalist alt-pop and cranks the contrast up until everyday life starts looking grotesque and kind of beautiful at the same time.
Clara’s vocals are the throughline — cutting through pounding percussion, snarling guitars and soaring synths with total conviction. She swings between sugar-rush pop hooks and full-on defiant release, and it works every single time.
Track by Track
What’s In My Bag opens with glitchy, overstimulated energy that sets the tone immediately. Pile Of Clothes is tongue-in-cheek anxiety at its finest. Playing God is the live favourite you’ve probably already heard about. I Love This! plays like an anti-depression anthem — euphoria and exhaustion crashing into each other at high speed. And the title track closes things out by treating obsession not as romance, but as something far more invasive and all-consuming. Bleak? Maybe. Banger? Absolutely.
First Physical Release + Tour
Big news for vinyl heads: this is PUNCHBAG’s first-ever physical release. It’s dropping as a Dinked Early Doors 12″ pairing ‘I Am Obsessed’ with their debut EP ‘I’m Not Your Punchbag’ in one combined release. Two EPs, one slab of wax — go get it.
They’re also on the road right now through a UK and European headline run, wrapping up at The Lexington in London on 9th May. If you haven’t caught them live yet, sort that out. Their shows are notoriously closer to group therapy than a gig, and that’s a compliment of the highest order.
Tour Dates
April
13 — Paris, Supersonic (FR)
15 — Dresden, Polimagie Festival (DE)
16 — Rotterdam, MOMO Festival (NL)
17 — Osnabrück, Popsalon Festival (DE)
21 — Leeds, Oporto (UK)
22 — Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy (UK)
23 — Manchester, YES Basement (UK)
24 — Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach (UK)
26 — Bristol, Louisiana (UK)
May
09 — London, The Lexington (UK)
Listen & Watch
Stream ‘I Am Obsessed’ EP: here
Follow PUNCHBAG on Instagram: @punchbagpunchbag
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