Problem Patterns release debut album ‘Blouse Club’

News

3 Nov

Belfast-based DIY feminist queerpunk quartet Problem Patterns have released their debut album Blouse Club via Alcopop! Records.

The band have had a rollercoaster year so far, tipped by Kathleen Hanna (Le Tigre, Bikini Kill) and Henry Rollins (Black Flag) as one of the most exciting new punk bands on the planet. Fresh from supporting Dream Wife on their Irish tour the band were tipped as The Observer newspaper's Ones To Watch.

In an effort to weight equal importance to the whole record, Problem Patterns recently recorded several exclusive DIY videos for every track on the album, for a very special Problem Patterns Punk Trail—taking a journey through the many and varied themes of Blouse Club with visual references, bringing some hope and joy to those who may need it the most.

They talk openly and candidly about the issues they're facing, writing immediate songs for right now, swapping roles and instruments to get their point across, building a positive space from subjects that can otherwise be very difficult to face. Whether it's railing against TERFs, examining middle class poverty tourism, lamenting chronic health problems, airing a "sh*tlist" of men from the music industry who have wronged them, or trashing corporate greed and wealth inequality, their messages are vital.

Recorded and mixed by Niall Doran at Start Together Studios in Belfast and mastered by Peter J Moore at The E Room in Toronto, the album has so far received rave reviews from fans and critics alike.

After a duo of support slots with Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill's iconic electro rock trio Le Tigre earlier this year and a run of dates with Dream Wife in Ireland, the quartet have a London headline date at The Sebright Arms on 17 November and will be supporting Scottish legends The Spook School at their reunion show in Glasgow this December.

Stream Blouse Club, and watch the video for “A History Of Bad Men Part II”: