PANIK FLOWER SPOTLIGHT DIGITAL DEPENDENCE 

ON NEW SINGLE “OCD” — STREAM

FRENETIC OFFICIAL VIDEO CUTS FROM CHAOS TO STABILITY, BACK TO CHAOS — WATCH

THE DREAMGAZE FIVE-PIECE’S  NEW EP REARVIEW  SET TO ARRIVE ON APRIL 30 — PRE-SAVE

PLAYING NYC’S NEW COLOSSUS FEST THIS WEEK

NYC dreamgaze band PANIK FLOWER today releases their new single and video “ocd.” The single is the second track from rearview, their sophomore EP that arrives on April 30. “ocd” rolls off of vocalist Sage Leopold’s tongue as the pointed, yet syrupy, “obsessive consumption diet.” With a guitar riff floating in outer space, the song remains shackled to earth by a formidable rhythm section. Haunting and anxiety-ridden, “ocd” is an unending loop of cyclical bingeing — Stream “ocd” / Pre-save rearview. 

“The song explores the obsessive and addictive relationship we have with media consumption in today’s world and how that shapes us as individuals,” shares Leopold. “It has a complete chokehold on our daily functions living in the modern world even when you’re aware of how toxic it is. The chorus really drives this point home with the repetition of the lines ‘you catch yourself but you can’t catch a break, you catch yourself but you can’t look away.’” 

Today’s single arrives with an erratic official video directed by Aji Bass. Filmed primarily at Porter Studio in Brooklyn, with additional footage shot in upstate NY, the video is a visual juxtaposition between stability and disorder — Watch. 

Bass shared that, “For the ‘ocd’ music video, we wanted to lean into a grungy ‘90s aesthetic and let the themes of the song guide the edit. The more composed wide shots of the band represent ‘reality;’ a typical PANIK FLOWER rehearsal or performance. The video quickly devolves into an implied destabilized mental state by the first chorus. Intrusive thoughts make their way into the video in the form of quick, frenetic cuts and teasing a mysterious silhouetted figure who continuously appears and disappears. The structure of the song lends to this juxtaposition, between chaos and stabilization then back to chaos, until we end where we started: wide on the band, back to their reality, maybe just a little more disheveled than before but still standing.”

Guitarist Jordan Buzzell continues, “Visually, we were inspired by classic 90’s grunge videos like Sonic Youth’s ‘Bull In the Heather’ and Garage’s ‘Stupid Girl.’ We wanted the ‘ocd’ video to exist across time periods and serve as an homage to the early days of rock music video making.”

At the beginning of the year, PANIK FLOWER announced rearview with the release of their first single “alkaline.” Through a lush soundscape that careens into driving hooks, the song is filled with a sense of desire and longing. The track received nods from New Noise, Atwood Magazine, Vanyaland and more. 

Formed in 2022, PANIK FLOWER has another EP under their belt titled Dark Blue. While their previous project was primarily focused on the complexity of romance and relationships, their upcoming EP, rearview, is rooted in internal matters. It explores identity, namely the double-sided nature of uncertainty and self-acceptance. It transcribes this self-exploration into a plush and emotive soundscape. The new EP was produced, mixed, and recorded by James Duncan (Taraneh, Nara’s Room, Dead Tooth, Raavi) and mastered by Carl Saff (Drops Nineteens, Dr. Dog, Sonic Youth). rearview will be available everywhere on April 30. 

Bringing their all-consuming, elevated and raw style to the main stage, PANIK FLOWER are set to perform at New York City’s New Colossus Fest on March 7th at Arlene's Grocery and March 8th at Berlin. 

ABOUT PANIK FLOWER:

Through a chain of chance introductions and long-time friendships, PANIK FLOWER materialized within the New York music scene. Mirroring the push and pull of their city’s intensity, the band instinctively began pairing atmospheric dream-pop with a restrained use of well-timed punchiness. Their soundscape of soft harmonies, hard-hitting instrumentals and cutting lyricism evoke the hazy nostalgia of distant memories — ones of love, loss and identity that have captivated audiences from NYC, to the Southeast, and onward. 

The majority of the band’s members are native New Yorkers, and PANIK FLOWER’s sound is inherently reflective of the ever-changing city; one that shifts and melds, yet stays rooted in its identity. PANIK FLOWER is made up of co-collaborators Sage Leopold (vocals), Mila Stieglitz-Courtney (guitar/vocals), Jordan Buzzell (guitar), Max Baird (bass) and Marco Starger (drums). The knot of circumstances that binds PANIK FLOWER together isn’t something that can neatly be untangled. It’s a gnarled, kinked path, but one that was always fated to play out. With their second EP rearview arriving on April 30, the band’s strongest work to date sees them marrying a shoegaze sensibility with post-punk undertones, grounded in their ethereal, DIY roots.

For more information on PANIK FLOWER, please visit:

Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Press photo by Ivan Alexander