you made me / skin on linen, depicts a childhood shaped by structural, systemic, and intimate violence. Throughout the record, art-making motifs serve as metaphors for the myriad ways we carry the effects of this violence: each experience leaves an impression, gradually creating or deforming the self, much like a piece of clay moulded by every mark it receives. The record resists simple conclusions; rather than offering a single perspective, it examines violence as a ubiquitous facet of our culture. It asks questions—how does violence impact our development? Are our wounds inextricable parts of us? And if not, then where do our wounds end and we begin?—and allows the listener to devise their own answers.

The band has shared their first offering from the album, ‘time loop at hot slit,’ a frenetic noise-punk examination of girlhood in a culture of sexualization.  The song pairs a danceable chorus with witty, poetic lyrics wailed in anguish and uncanny eroticism. This official video was co-directed by PISS front-person Taylor Zantingh and Vivyen Sagsen. Filmed at the now-closed-down DIY space, Take Yr Time Back in Vancouver, BC, Zantingh shares: “Some of the people with whom I shared the earliest version of “time loop at hot slit” take the stage to sing it themselves. Our local scene has been singing this song with us for two years!! It’s very exciting to finally share it with the world, but no matter where it ends up, it will always belong to the femmes, queers, and weirdos in the Vancouver underground community <3”.

you made me / skin on linen:

1. kai and friends
2. i wanted to be a singer
3. andrea I
4. time loop at hot slit
5. manon on the trial of gisèle pelicot
6. a little girl’s horse craze betrays her
7. toni
8. there was a door
9. andrea II
10. how can you act opposite to this emotion?
11. blocking a scene you can’t remember
12. self-blame with thorn necklace and hummingbird
13. vikki
14. Rote Zora. “Resistance is Possible.” Emma, no. 6, June 1984, pp. 39-41.
15. i keep trying to change the ending

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Driven by ferocious punk vocals, explosive guitars and cathartic screams, the track channels raw frustration into a blistering statement of defiance. Inspired by the anger of seeing someone with hateful views embrace her art, Portraits of Tracy turns that discomfort into something powerful — a song that feels as much like a release as it does a confrontation.

‘This Song May Or May Not Be About An Alt-Right Influencer’ is another reminder of just how versatile Portraits of Tracy is as an artist. From experimental bedroom recordings to raging hardcore chaos, she continues to surprise, and is quickly becoming one of the most exciting discoveries of the year.

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Their recent singles, ‘Jewel Case’ and ‘Cringeworthy’, offer an exciting glimpse into the band’s next chapter. While ‘Jewel Case’ finally gives a long-time live favourite the studio treatment it deserves, ‘Cringeworthy’ turns emotional honesty into a rallying cry, exploring themes of shame, self-acceptance and personal growth with the band’s trademark wit and charm. Together, the tracks showcase Hayley and the Crushers at their most vulnerable, self-aware and unapologetically fun.

With a new album on the horizon and a reputation as one of punk’s most magnetic live acts, there’s plenty to be excited about in the Crushers’ world right now. I caught up with frontwoman Hayley Crusher Cain to chat about the band’s evolution, the stories behind the new music and what fans can expect from this latest era of Hayley and the Crushers.

Hi Hayley! For anyone discovering Hayley and the Crushers for the first time, how would you describe the band and the world you’ve created around it?

“Poolside Glitter Punk – all the fun stuff you’d find at the bottom of the pool after a really wicked party. It’s a little rock n roll, a little 80s new wave, always some sunny, beachy fun. The subject matter is hopefully enlightening, if not a tad cheeky. The Crusherverse is a portal to a colorful, joyfully chaotic world where anything can happen, and often does.”

Both your recent singles ‘Jewel Case’ and ‘Cringeworthy’ balance chaos, vulnerability and humour so perfectly. Do you feel more comfortable being emotionally honest in your songwriting now than when the band first started?

“Since I was a nine years old, journaling every day and reading Harriet the Spy, I have always considered myself a writer. Around the same time, I learned guitar, so songwriting became a way to anchor my experience and express what so often feels so unexpressable. When the band first started out, I still was trying to figure out how to write for the heart and the dance floor, if that makes sense. When it comes to crafting a song that hits someone in the gut, something people want to laugh (or cry) to, or call their best friend and confess their deepest darkest secrets, or just feel totally free to lose themselves in the moment, you have to think about so much more that just what you’re personally trying to say. It’s this process of going deep into the guts of the song, then zooming all the way to see the structure. You get 2 minutes and 30 seconds to transport someone, so how do you do that? Over the years I do think I’ve gotten better at answering this question, and trusting myself when it comes to songwriting, editing and execution. So if it seems like vulnerability is showing up more, I think that’s due to better songwriting all around. The vulnerability was always there, it just wasn’t always always getting across as effectively.”

‘Cringeworthy’ feels like a real celebration of letting go of shame and not caring about looking “cool” all the time. Was writing that song cathartic for you in any way?

“Totally. Shame is something we toss around from person to person (or generation to generation) like a hot potato. No one wants to hold it. The easiest modern example is when someone online calls someone else out for being “cringe.” This says so much about the judgmental party, not the person doing the so-called “cringe” thing. “Cringeworthy” is about when you finally look down and realize you’ve been holding someone else’s proverbial hot potato of shame, and realizing it’s OK to simply put it down and get on with your life. We all come to a place when we realize that not all of our baggage is our own. I am in that phase, and it feels really freeing and exciting.”

‘Jewel Case’ has been part of your live shows for years before finally getting a proper studio recording. Why did now feel like the right time to officially release it?

“’Jewel Case’ is one of my all-time favorite songs: always a favorite to play live, to close out the night. But now it’s a favorite studio track, too, and that feels so satisfying to know we finally gave it the love it deserves. It’s a real “party song” about how hard-partying can go totally awry, which I think is pretty funny, and very us. My D.A.R.E. officer would have loved it. Music is a hell of a drug. I’m stoked people are digging it and the video too.”

Your live shows have this reputation for being sweaty, chaotic and completely unpredictable. What do you want people to feel when they leave a Hayley and the Crushers show?

“It sounds cheesy, like I’m Richard Simmons or something, but I want audiences to feel like they can embody their larger selves, step into power and be joyful out loud, together.  Regardless of what the world throws at any of us, we always have this choice to grow or shrink. Music, all art, can help us get to the other side of life’s potholes. The fans who have stayed with the band have really grown with us over all these years. We have scars. But we also aren’t afraid of a fun hook or a little glitter or looking dumb to boring people. Our listeners always have a certain glimmer in their eye. They’re funny and smart and relish the chance to really let it all hang out. They understand you only live once. In a word, they are true Crushers!”

A lot of your recent material seems to explore burnout, identity, emotional baggage and modern disconnection, but always in this really vibrant, energetic way. How do you balance heavier themes with that sense of fun?

“Girls just wanna have fun. But seriously: People who present as “fun” and “colorful” usually do it from a place of needing that medicine first. Mary Poppins needed her own spoonful of sugar to really share that sweetness with the children, you know? I live with a lot of existential dread, intense feelings of anxiety/sadness and overwhelm in my own life. When I put on a hot pink catsuit and write a super bouncy pop song with a sweet ass riff, I am doing that for my own dopamine levels first. I truly need that medicine injected straight into my veins, stat. When an artist is living from a place of vibrancy, that light can illuminate others in new and interesting ways. I think this is the magic salve of music and art. Artists have lit my path for years, so this is my way of getting to do that for someone else, while we both digest those hard-to-deal-with topics. I’m grateful I get to do this.”

Finally, with a new album on the way this summer, what can fans expect from this next era of Hayley and the Crushers?

“The word that comes to mind is POWER! Like when Batman beats up the bad guy: Pow! Bomp! Crush! We tried not to overthink the songs or production and really just trust our gut as we continue to blend our basement Detroit sessions with the amazing resources we have to play with thanks to Josie Cotton, our LA with producers John Miller, Paul Roessler and Kitten Robot Records as a whole. We continue to be a band that’s too punk for pop and too pop for punk. So now we say, “let them eat glitter!”

The post Getting To Know… Hayley and the Crushers appeared first on She Makes Music.

Singer Alex MacDonald explains: “On the surface, this song is about being cryogenically frozen yet still conscious. Watching your loved ones grow old, wither away, and die without being able to communicate. At its core, it’s about fighting the painful realization of mortality and loss, and the desperate desire to connect. I’ve lost close friends that I think about every day and wish I could talk to. I feel like I’m constantly looking for a way to get a message through. Along with the finality of death comes this realization that all of the choices we make for our life along the way were permanent. This song almost didn’t make the record. I thought it was too slow and didn’t fit the band’s energy, but I was wrong. It turned out to be the emotional centerpiece, and it’s become a lot of people’s favorite song.”

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‘grin & bear it,’ almost appeared on last year’s Panic Shack LP and finds the band linking up with producer Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, Amyl & the Sniffers, Yard Act) for a maelstrom of blazing, beefy guitars and righteous fury as vocalist Sarah Harvey tears apart the rat race cribbing from lyrics scribbled on a scrap of paper during a long, lonely nightshift in 2023.

“This song has had many iterations, seen many a practice room and taken many forms,” explain the band, completed by Meg Fretwell, Romi Lawrence, Emily Smith, and Nick Doherty-Williams. “It’s a song that we’ve felt really passionate about getting right, but the music was never fully hitting. We reworked it from the start of the year in any spare time we had around working our jobs and gigging (as we almost always do), which really helped to emphasise the song’s meaning. It almost made it onto our debut album, but it just wasn’t where it needed to be; we felt it didn’t have enough grit – until now. We really clicked with Ross in the studio and are super proud of what the track has become; it sounds massive.”

The track is joined by an accompanying video, shot during Panic Shack’s recent headline German tour, that perfectly captures the chaos and camaraderie the band have wrought in the wake of their debut album last year, and will continue to bring across the UK, Europe, and North America this summer.

“We took this to another level when recording the video. Went full method,” they say. “The whole video is filmed and directed by us while on our recent tour in Germany. We left no graffiti’d wall un-lip synced in front of, no green room relaxed in, every cool monument photo op used as a backdrop, it was work work work, grind grind grind… but of course we had a blast doing it.”

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The single and music video come amid the controversial Russian return to the Venice Biennale, which has led to the EU cutting funding, the Jury resigning, and many protests. On March 5th, Nadya Tolokonnikova started by stating “Expect Resistance” to the Venice Biennale, followed on April 19th, by curating the Strasbourg-based art exhibition RESISTANCE IMPRISONED and on April 21st, she was instrumental is getting 71 members (from 29 countries) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to sign the Written Declaration No. 835, formally condemning the decision by the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia to allow Russia to reopen its national pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition in 2026.

50 Pussy Riot members stormed the Russian pavilion with pink smoke, and were joined by Ukrainian performance art group FEMEN for “Storm of Venice” as they shut the entry to the pavilion in the Biennale giardini.

Nadya Tolokonnikova says: “I wanted to do a classic punk song – in old school Pussy Riot style – I’ve been trying to be polite – writing letters via the Council of Europe, writing directly to the board, to the president, to people in the art world, and dead ends everywhere. Polite society doesn’t work when you are dealing with thugs and crooks – so we meet them with punk, we have to scream our anger and disdain for what is happening.

“Over 50 members of Pussy Riot, from all over the world came here to the Storm of Venice, to scream and take part in this moment.

“We quickly go into editing mode after – gathering photographers and video people, we cut the video sitting in a cafe – and turn it around in a day – this is our actionist training in action. This is our art, and our protest. We hope the punks, freaks, and actually anyone who ever felt like fucking screaming to enjoy this song and moment with us. Fuck Putin.”

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Band members Victoria Marie and Joey La Neve DeFrancesco say of the visual: “‘You’re a Ghost’ took shape in the context of the previous and current administrations’ violent suppression of pro-Palestine and anti-ICE protestors, and ICE’s recent, depraved escalations within the always-horrific U.S. deportation regime. In such a time, as a bare minimum, we must continue to demand freedom of migration, movement, and everything for everyone. They can’t distract us with clouds of hate. Our bodies and our history are not a game; this is a power structure. ICE out.”

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Alongside the announcement, the band have shared a new single and video, ‘Ice Cream,’ which captures the aggression, urgency, and ethos of the band. Guitarist and vocalist Alex MacDonald explains that its lyrics grapple with anger, fighting burnout, and the fervor to keep going when the search for comfort comes up empty.

At the center of the song’s inspiration was an absurd moment of clarity. “A five-year-old was running a toy ice cream shop,” MacDonald recalls. “I handed over fake money, asked for chocolate, and got vanilla. I pointed out that paying customers should get to choose their order. The kid was unmoved and said: ‘You get what you get, and don’t get upset.’ I tried to teach her about capitalism but she didn’t seem to care. She was using this mantra to placate me and it cracked me up. But it did stick with me, and I used it to get through some annoying situations of my own.”

The accompanying video bites back: an automated robot-run ice cream truck denies the crew the single cone they can afford, and it sparks a revolt. They steal the truck, drive through the streets of LA, land in a parking lot and hand out all the ice cream for free.

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An aggressive punk song with metal and alt rock mixed in, ‘GREEN BURIAL’ serves as encouragement to the rich, power hungry and greedy that it’s never too late to turn your life around and leave a positive legacy. The track was recorded by Jake Stanton at Big Fig Studios, and mastered by Tim Turan (Suzi Quatro, Killing Joke, You Me At Six, etc).

Drummer Alex McIntosh says: “’Green Burial’ was born out of my passion for green tech and renewables, and the anger and hopelessness I’ve felt regarding the lack of progress and even regression in the case of the USA on climate related promises and investment. The concept of a green burial — where your body becomes a tree — felt like the perfect dark, absurd lens to channel that frustration through, imagining a kind of frontier justice for those who prioritise profit over the planet. Musically, we wanted something aggressive that people could mosh to, and I’m incredibly proud of how it all came together.”

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On the new track the band say: “The age old tale, of selling your soul to the devil has been fabled accounts of high society for years. However due to recent events come to light- it turns out that the elite are very much actually, the devil incarnate, baby eating, pedos. What a fucking surprise! They had no souls to sell in the first place.”

The single is also accompanied by a music video directed by London-based filmmaker and director Harv Frost (The Last Dinner Party, Laufey).

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