Problem Patterns

“Fluid and ferocious. Righteous anger has rarely sounded so engaging” - The Guardian [One To Watch]
“I love them…weird music for right now that sounds like no one else and I am addicted” - Kathleen Hanna
“One of the most important records from the north of Ireland in the last 25 years” - Dig With It Magazine
“Riotous feminist punk anthems that provide comfort and catharsis in equal measure” - Get In Her Ears
“Twelve tracks of righteous and rallying queer punk...as brilliant as it is culturally crucial” - Noizze [9/10]
“One of the albums of the year...an utter thrill from start to finish” - God Is In The TV Zine
“Making some of the loudest and most necessary music out right now” - Bob Vylan
“The next big thing to come from Belfast’s emerging punk scene” - LOUDER
“Punk rock/hardcore that’s in a league all of its own” - The Punk Site [9/10]
​“A thoroughly great racket” - Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music
“World domination surely beckons” - The Irish News
​“I just think they’re great” - Henry Rollins

Belfast-based DIY feminist queerpunk quartet PROBLEM PATTERNS are delighted to announce that they are the winners of the coveted ‘Album of The Year’ category at this year’s Northern Irish Music Prize 2024.

The four piece’s critically acclaimed debut album Blouse Club is out now via Alcopop! Records, with PP 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. 

Commenting on the news, Ciara King from the band says: “We’re a bit speechless about winning the album of the year. I guess it means so much to us to see a queer, feminist piece of work winning a prize of this scale. I think it makes me feel hopeful that queer voices are being appreciated. We absolutely did not expect to win and did cartwheels and tumbles on stage. We put everything we had into this album and we’re really proud of it. It’s a true reflection of who we all are as people. This means the world to a DIY punk band like us. Thanks to everyone who’s supported so far, bring on Problem Patterns 2025!”

To celebrate the news, the band have shared another new cut from the recently-revealed electronic rework version of the album, Blouse Clubland, which is also out now via Alcopop! Records.

An eclectic mix of melody, mash ups, and mayhem, this exquisite new version of the record sees the Belfast punk icons come together with a boatload of their finest friends, collaborators, and fellow musicians to re-work the original tracks into a sublime new listening experience.

It's Problem Patterns, but not like you've ever heard them before.

New single ‘Who Do We Not Remix’ is the latest track to be taken from the record—another searing reworked version that brings a completely fresh energy to the band’s vital output, and features Nymphowars podcast host Macy Rodman.

Commenting on the track, the band say: “When it came to putting Blouse Clubland together, there was a point to be made that a message can be just as powerful through a dance lens. The original version of ‘Who Do We Not Save?’ was a song directly critiquing the UK’s handling of the National Healthcare Service, and unfortunately circumstances have continued to get worse for the majority of people.”

“We’re fans of Macy Rodman from her podcast, Nymphowars, which has been a great source of joy when times haven’t been so positive. Beth introduced the show to all of us and had the idea to contact Macy, who we couldn’t dream would actually want to collaborate. We are so used to her making us laugh, and yet when we heard Who Do We Not Remix for the first time, it felt like a gut punch. We genuinely can’t believe she wrote her own verse and we are utterly inspired by the result. To hear this song through her lens, especially with the state of healthcare in America, is so incredibly powerful. We are so hugely grateful that she gave this to us.”

Blouse Clubland is available on limited edition cassette tape (pink) with an outrageously loud accompanying limited edition shirt/blouse in collaboration with clothing range The Dudes (see image below) - purchase now: https://ilovealcopop.co.uk/collections/problem-patterns

The remix album follows on from the standalone single ‘I Think You Should Leave’ released earlier this year, following a bumper summer of performances at Glastonbury Festival, Stendahl Festival, 2000 Trees, TRUCK Festival and Belsonic.

Fresh from supporting Dream Wife on their Irish tour in 2023 the band were tipped as The Observer newspaper’s Ones To Watch, rounding out last year opening for The Spook School at their reunion show in Glasgow.

The band have two remaining December support slots with Other Half and The Mary Wallopers to round out the year.

Further live dates TBA.

More info:
 

Problem Patterns are four shouty queers who write songs for right now, swapping roles and instruments to get their point across about whatever angers them this week.  

After many lonely nights screaming alone in their bedrooms over the state of the world, Alanah, Bethany, Bev and Ciara (aka ABBA) came together in Belfast in 2018 to invent a new genre they called PUNK.  It's shouty, it's heavy, it's tongue in cheek, it's inclusive, it's hopeful and it's fun.

​These four DIY punk dads are all about creating havoc in celebratory and cathartic spaces.  Bigger than The Beatles, but not yet quite as big as Slipknot, the band have played notable support slots with Le Tigre, Bob Vylan and Fight Like Apes.

Their debut single, ‘Allegedly’, was recorded and released within their first month together, they released their debut EP, Good For You, Aren’t You Great? in July 2019.

Recorded and mixed by Niall Doran at Start Together Studios in Belfast and mastered by Peter J Moore at The E Room in Toronto, their 2023 debut album Blouse Club received rave reviews and coverage from from The Guardian (who tipped them at Ones To Watch), LOUDER, VISIONS, Dig With It, God Is In The TV Zine, The Punk Site, The Thin Air, Chordblossom, and many more.

At radio the band have performed an exclusive BBC 6music Session for the New Music Fix, were added to the BBC 6music Introducing playlist, the Radio X X-Posure Playlist, the Amazing Radio playlist, and the Student Music Network playlist, with support from punk legend Henry Rollins at KCRW, BBC Northern Ireland’s Introducing, Mickey Bradley and Stephen McCauley, BBC Stereo Underground with Richard Latto, The Selector, RTÉ, Total Rock, Louder Than War Radio, and many more regional and specialist shows.

Streaming support has been equally bountiful, with love from Spotify’s All New Punk, The Punk List, Hot New Bands, and Queercore playlists, Apple’s New In Rock, New In Alternative, and Negative Space, and Deezer’s Queer Punk playlist.

They have played with Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill’s iconic electro rock trio Le Tigre, supported Dream Wife on their Ireland tour, joined fellow Irish upstarts And So I Watch You From Afar and Fight Like Apes on stage, and opened for Scottish legends The Spook School at their reunion show in Glasgow.

Here's what some of their icons had to say about them:

“I love the band Problem Patterns because they make weird music for right now that sounds like no one else and I am addicted” - Kathleen Hanna
​“I just think they’re great” - Henry Rollins
​“A thoroughly great racket” - Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music
 

To celebrate the first anniversary of the release of Northern Irish Music Prize nominated album of the year, Blouse Club, Problem Patterns have crafted this glorious follow up, Blouse Clubland, with a little help from their friends! An eclectic mix of melody, mash ups and mayhem, this exquisite record sees the Belfast punk icons come together with a boatload of their finest friends, collaborators and fellow musicians to re-work the original tracks into a sublime new listening experience. It's Problem Patterns, but not like you've ever heard them before.