Sailor Honeymoon: Seoul's All-Female Punk Trio Lands NME Cover Ahead of European Tour
Seoul-based all-female punk trio Sailor Honeymoon are the cover story on NME's August 2026 issue (cover photography by Annie Chung), timed to a European run that includes a sold-out London date and three major festival slots.
Who they are
The band formed in 2022 when drummer-vocalist Abi Raymaker and guitarist-vocalist Zaeeun Shin started rehearsing together in Seoul with no plan to release anything. "There was zero pressure, and it felt really good," Raymaker has said. That year they played a basement Block Party show at Seoul's Phillies Pub, working the crowd into a mosh with early song sketches and covers. Bassist Yelim Kim joined in 2024, completing the current three-piece lineup.
After self-releasing a self-titled debut EP in 2024, the band picked up high-profile champions: Janelle Monáe messaged the group directly to praise their 2025 single "Armchair" and later recommended them to the crowd backstage at Seoul Jazz Festival. Riot grrrl figurehead Kathleen Hanna and songwriter Cat Power have also voiced support. Sailor Honeymoon made NME's 100 artists to watch in 2025 list.
Live, the trio has a habit of inviting women from the audience onstage at the end of sets, turning the show into a shared space. Song subjects run from pest control ("Cockroach") to cutting off a toxic friendship ("Bad Apple") to using siren effects to riff on period pain ("PMS Police") — the same directness and humor that defines their sound.
Asia touring history
Before breaking internationally, Sailor Honeymoon built a solid live circuit across Asia. They've played South Korea's largest rock festival, Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon, and more recently appeared at the Cheorwon DMZ Peace Train Music Festival in South Korea and Playtime Festival in Mongolia ahead of their 2026 European dates.
What's confirmed for Europe
- London, UK — Brixton Windmill — sold out
- Øya Festival — Oslo, Norway
- Way Out West — Gothenburg, Sweden
- Green Man Festival — Wales, UK
- Timeframe: roughly July–August 2026
What we don't know yet
The source doesn't specify exact festival set dates or additional European stops beyond these three festivals.