London punk trio Shooting Daggers have released their mini-album The Real Life Thing, and with it the second single ‘My Oh My‘, which they call “a song about hope”.
The seven-track, twenty-minute record came out on 5th June via New Heavy Sounds, two years on from the band’s debut Love & Rage. Recorded at Bear Bites Horse Studio with Wayne Adams, it threads Shooting Daggers‘ rocket-fuelled punk through melody, with guests including The Menstrual Cramps and Refused‘s Dennis Lyxzén.
‘My Oh My‘ leans into that hopeful streak. “We must keep faith, because hope and resilience is what drives change, and we have to hold on to it,” the band said. They framed the song around freedom for “every country suffering the consequences of hegemony and the greed for power”, as well as freedom for animals and an end to suffering in all its forms.
The accompanying video, directed by long-time collaborator Fernando J Martinez, sets out to find the same hope in small, everyday moments. “Focusing on the beauty around us can help us feel grounded and reminds us to keep fighting for a better future,” the band said, “and that, if we come together, real change is possible.”
Getting there took some improvising. The original plan leaned on years of handheld tour footage shot by Sal, but most of it was lost just weeks before deadline. Instead the band filmed across a single day at their favourite London spots. “We were so lucky, it was a beautiful sunny day after weeks of rain, we ate delicious vegan food in the park and ended the day playing scrabble at the local pub,” they said. Raquel carried the little camera around for days, gathering B-roll of the small moments that are easily missed when phones and busy heads get in the way.
They turned to Martinez having loved his work on earlier single ‘Wipe Out‘. “Again he didn’t disappoint,” they said.
The Real Life Thing is available on limited edition shiny black vinyl and digitally via New Heavy Sounds.
