Problem Patterns have announced their debut album.
Recorded and mixed by Niall Doran at Start Together Studios and mastered by Peter J Moore at The E Room, the Belfast-based punks will drop ‘Blouse Club’ on 27th October via Alcopop! Records. To celebrate the news, the band have also shared new AA single ‘Lesbo 3000’ / ‘Poverty Tourist’.
Bethany Crooks says: “‘Lesbo 3000’ was written partly out of frustration and also to reclaim and have ownership over my sexuality. The frustration is that lesbianism is consistently invalidated, we’re told that we just haven’t ‘met the right man’ yet or that some random man in a bar has a magic appendage in his trousers that will completely negate your attraction to women. The reality is that homophobic attacks are becoming more and more consistent with right wing social media emboldening bigots, while ‘lesbian’ remains one of the top search topics on all porn websites. (Mostly) men think that lesbians exist for their sexual gratification, but if they see two women holding hands they go absolutely berserk.
“I also thought it was important to reclaim the slur ‘dyke’. I’ve been called a dyke multiple times by homophobes who want to hurt me, but if I can reclaim that word it completely takes the power out of it. Yes I am a dyke. And that feels really powerful to say.”
Of ‘Poverty Tourist’, Alanah Smith adds: “We’re a working class band and there are experiences that are very unique to us which we have bonded over. It’s incredibly frustrating to see those struggles co-opted by folks who have never had to worry about money. The kind of people who will dig around charity shops to ‘curate’ bits for their Etsy store where they will sell these items at 10x the price. Charity shops exist to serve the community and there are people that depend on them because there are no other options. It’s the rich kids moving into impoverished areas to make themselves sound more interesting, driving up the rent and gentrifying the area.
“This sort of romanticisation of the poor is very prevalent in the music scene, especially in bands (and industry types) who align a working class background with being perceived as more authentic. People dress up and change their accent for personal gain only, but as Jarvis Cocker once said, ‘If you called your dad he could stop this all’ – and of course, he also said, ‘Everybody hates a tourist.’ It’s cosplay, it’s gross, and it’s always obvious when someone is doing this.”
Check out the tracks below; the album’s full tracklisting reads:
- Y.A.W
- Big Shouty
- Advertising Services
- A History of Bad Men Part II
- Lesbo 3000
- Pity Bra
- Who Do We Not Save
- Poverty Tourist
- Letter of Resignation
- Picture of Health
- TERFs Out
- Domestic Bliss
