London-based DIY punk supergroup YAKKIE have been making waves in the underground, selling out every show they’ve played to date, and now they’ve announced they’ll be self-releasing their debut album ‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head’ on 13th February 2026. Alongside the announcement comes the unleashing of the record’s title track, out today, on Bandcamp only. A rousing, rallying cry, ‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head’ kicks off the album’s proceedings with strong intent. Vocalist Janey Starling explains:
“This is a song against self-defeat. The cop in your head will talk you out of your own power before you’ve had a chance to taste it. He wants your despair to calcify into defeat so you roll over for fascism and tell yourself there’s nothing anyone could have done to stop it. He tells you that there’s no practical alternative to this soul-sucking meat grinder that is late capitalism. If you don’t kill the cop inside your head, you will become him.
The concept of the ‘cop in the head’ comes from the anti-fascist Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal. Boal believed that theatre is a ‘rehearsal for the revolution’ and ‘the cop in the head’ is a theatre game that allows people to identify and give a voice to their internalised oppressions in order to overcome them.
If we want a better world, we must first be able to imagine one. To do that, we have to kill the cop inside our head. Go to the protest! Join your union!”
YAKKIE will punch you in the face and kiss you on the cheek after. They began as a political outlet for veteran DIY punk Starling, KERRANG! award winner and founding frontwoman of Dream Nails, who took a break from making music to focus on full-time anti-prisons activism and is now back on the mic with a vengeance. She enlisted Robin Gatt, the iconoclast behind Personal Best and bassist of Petrol Girls, to propel her lyrics in Smashing Pumpkins-style shredding and downtuned Helmet-style riffage. Laura Ankles of Colour Me Wednesday and Maeve Westall of Jasmine.4.T and Itoldyouiwouldeatyou drive the hulking rhythm section, filling out every frequency left to produce a scorching wall of sound.
‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head’ was recorded at the prestigious Middle Farm Studios in Devon with producer Peter Miles (Architects, Tesseract, Orla Gartland, Petrol Girls). The entire album was recorded on reel-to-reel tape in a mere four days – nothing digital was used in the recording process! Every track was recorded live in one take, with the result being a raw and real rollercoaster of powerful takedowns, motivational chants, soft emotive moments and feminist fury.
Lend your voice to their rallying cry and witness YAKKIE live at the How To Catch A Pig Halloween Party at Matchstick Piehouse this Friday. They’re also touring with US-based political punks Dead Pioneers in Feb/March 2026. See below for details.
YAKKIE make righteous heavy music for the urgency of this political moment, and they’ll make you laugh too.
YAKKIE ARE:
Janey Starling (she/her) – vocals
Maeve Westall (she/her) – drums
Robin Gatt (they/them) – guitar, vocals
Laura Ankles (she/her) – bass, vocals
SEE YAKKIE LIVE:
31-Oct-25 – London: How To Catch A Pig Halloween Party at Matchstick Piehouse
w/ Dead Pioneers:
26-Feb-26 – Bristol – The Croft
27-Feb-26 – Manchester – Rebellion
28-Feb-26 – Leeds – Key Club
01-Mar-26 – London – Underworld
CONNECT WITH YAKKIE on Instagram
