Belfast-based DIY feminist queerpunk quartet PROBLEM PATTERNS return with their new single ‘Classic Rock Has Become My Prison’ via Alcopop! Records. The track is the latest to be taken from their forthcoming new EP titled Boring Songs For Boring People, set for release on 12 September 2025 via Alcopop! Records. The EP will be released on screen printed vinyl with a selection of office-based mug merch, with further details to follow.
New single ‘Classic Rock Has Become My Prison’ is a chuggy parody of classic rock turned classic Problem Patterns rant-fest, and follows on from lead single ‘I’m Fine and I’m Doing Great’ which recently made the BBC Radio 6music C List. Recorded, mixed, and mastered once again by Niall Doran at Start Together Studios, Belfast, the new single comes with an official video directed by Beverley Boal, which sees the band assuming their new classic rock alter-egos: Beverley Flippin’ Boal, MegaBeth, Hard Rock Alanah, and Ciara King Cobra.
Commenting on the track, the band say:
“The title was the concluding sentence of a rant about my neighbour who plays classic rock radio stations obnoxiously loud from his garage for hours on sunny days, thrusting me back indoors and forcing me to close the windows to get some peace. ‘Great name for a song,’ I was told, so in classic fashion I took to channelling those frustrations into music. But the more I thought about classic rock tunes, the more I thought about the sexism and misogyny rampant in the lyrics of even the most popular songs.”
“There are something like 25 of the most uncomfortable and cocky lyric references patchworked into this song, and there will be a prize if you guess all 25 correctly. Musically, we took on classic rock alter-egos, ripping solos, chugging riffs, hitting the drum fills just right, before letting loose that patented PP anger. This is Problem Patterns at our cock-rockiest.”
Previously released EP track ‘Sad Old Woman’, featuring vocals from Matt Korvette of Pissed Jeans (Sub Pop Records), dropped in Spring 2025 and premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music’s New Music Fix show. 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, the new track is the first new material from PP since winning the coveted ‘Album of The Year’ category at the Northern Irish Music Prize 2024 with critically acclaimed debut album Blouse Club.
Fresh from headline tour dates, support dates with BO NINGEN and Michael Cera Palin, and a festival appearances at NXNE, Stendahl, and Under The Drum, the band will appear at the Pink Pound Birthday Party and Get In Her Ears Fest this summer, plus newly-announced live dates with Other Half, and Fightmilk.
Problem Patterns Live Dates
August
30 – Glasgow – The Flying Duck (Pink Pound Birthday Party w/ Trach Kit + Come Outside)
September
5- Belfast – NI (EP Launch with Other Half)
6 – Drogheda – Ireland (EP Launch with Other Half)
7 – Dublin – Ireland (EP Launch with Other Half)
26 – Brighton – The Hope & Ruin (w/ Fightmilk) *free entry*
27 – London – Cavendish Arms – Get In Her Ears Fest (UK)
For more information on Problem Patterns please check their facebook and instagram.