- 2025-05-04
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MUSIC
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PUNCHBAG Releases Debut EP “I'm Not Your Punchbag”
London-based pop-punk sibling duo PUNCHBAG, consisting of Clara Bach (vocals) and Anders Bach (guitar), released their debut EP “I'm Not Your Punchbag” along with a new music video for “You Used To Be So Sexy” directed by Cole Pemberton and Harry Farnhill-Bain on May 2, 2025.
The EP comprises 4 songs, where unapologetically sugar-sweet pop hooks clash with radical leftfield production, making it a perfect mirror for the relentless headfuck that defines modern existence.
The band lead singer Clara Bach said of the EP, “We want to be the most pop thing we can in a left-field context, and be the most left-field in a pop context. We’re constantly playing with the idea of how far we can take each direction."- She continued, “It’s not escapism, we’re not making a fantasy world. It’s reflective of right now. We’re not chasing the news, or just writing about what’s going on - we’re making music that is about people’s reactions to what’s going on. Their feelings, emotions and thoughts.”
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The duo explained track-by-track for the EP.
“Fuck It”
“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. Written with our wonderful x100 friend Michelle Leonard in her Berlin flat, it was written one night mostly in one fast stream, there was an urgency with the song and the lyrics because the song is about people's feelings towards the world right now.”
“I'm Not Your Punchbag”
“It comes from a ‘harmless’ small remark made to me at a dinner table once that really cut deep. From this small seed, if you like, the song grew into a kind of anthem for fighting back - a refusal to let people dump their shit on you. This song helps explain the band name and our ethos. It’s something to scream along to; a perfect therapy. ‘Don’t take it out on me, bitch!'”
“Pretty Youth”
“We’re sold that this is the most romantic time of your life, but really a lot of it is spent in the dark suffering. Pretty Youth is our first release after it being a stand-out track from our year of sweaty but intense and crazy fun live shows. The song is a blend of raw grit and pure sugar about our journey through erratic highs and gross lows of the idealised 'coming of age' experience!”
“You Used To Be So Sexy”
“I think being able to dance about something really awful can be quite important. We trapped ourselves in a bathroom for 10 hours and made this video with our v good friends for ‘Used To Be So Sexy’. We wrote this song in our first ever session with the magical DeeAdam and I think you can hear how much fun we had writing this song.”
Photo by Kitty Quinton - source : Apple Music
