Formed in Porto in 2022, Ideal Victim is not here to be cute. Their debut full-length Rage Letters, out May 23 via Lovers & Lollypops, lands like a backhand to the temple—sharp, immediate, and deliberate. Built on the bones of UK82 hardcore, their sound is warped through surf punk’s sleaze and rockabilly’s snap, until what’s left is a lean, venomous hybrid where atmosphere is weaponized.
Guitarist Pedro Marques, bassist Alex Viera, drummer Bruno Esteves, and vocalist Mariana Moreira operate like a unit forged in the same fire—each part complicit in the controlled burn. If Mariana’s voice carries a threat, it’s because it’s meant to. Her delivery cuts somewhere between feral scream and scalpel-level precision, always loaded with intent. “Duality is present in everything we do,” she says. “There are things that can be said without ‘screaming,’ because minimalism doesn’t always mean irrelevance.”
Lyrically, the new album moves away from direct political confrontation like on Diary of a Pig, instead turning inward. “I wanted to speak from a more personal perspective,” Mariana explains, “and dive into mental health… bullying, substance abuse — these are forms of violence and oppression.” But even here, politics bleed in by force. “Right now, everything is political,” she adds. “Your position is a statement.”
Ideal Victim built the album on raw intuition. “All of the tracks were pretty much the first-try raw version,” they admit. No reshuffling, no polishing. Even the decision to lead with “Bubbles” was instinctive: “It has all of the ingredients that we hope get some people hooked.” There’s no hiding the rough edges—some mistakes stayed in the recording. That honesty is the point.
Behind the boards, Will Killingsworth handled mixing and co-mastering duties with Bruno Esteves. The band recorded everything themselves. “Will is a pro and a great person to work with. He has a lot of patience and always helps you push your sound through new barriers.”
What started as a nod to UK punk quickly mutated. Bruno originally wanted to channel bands like The Partisans or Subhumans, but his taste for Link Wray and The Cramps pushed the sound sideways. “When I heard bands like Vidro, Exit Order or X2000… the light switch went off in my head.” That tension—between intent and instinct, collapse and control—defines Rage Letters.
Visually, Ideal Victim’s world is as curated as their music. Mariana describes her lyric writing as almost cinematic. “I’m a very visual person,” she says. “There’s a vision that connects both things.” She crafts it analog, then passes it to Alex, who brings the final form to life. “It’s pretty cool to work with him.”
Porto’s scene, according to the band, is healthy but under constant threat of gentrification. Venues like Barracuda Clube de Roque and Woodstock 69 are vital antifascist spaces, but the loss of squats weighs heavy. Still, new bands are emerging, and the band name-checks Agitat Solum, Hazing Lungs, Itami, Palegazer, Repugnator, 98AxE, Reia Cibele—plus their other projects: Scatter, Pester, and Idle Hand.
Misreadings come with the territory. “We’re a feminist band obviously,” they clarify, “but we’re as much feminist as we are antifascist, anticolonialist, anti-racist, or anti-homophobic.” They reject reductive labels, especially those that revolve solely around Mariana’s presence. “The point we’re trying to make here is not to just get the idea that we’re a feminist-focused band just because we have a female vocalist.”
Read the full interview below for more on the band’s beginnings, the politics of visibility, Porto’s changing punk map, and the ghosts living inside Rage Letters.
How did the first spark for Ideal Victim come together? Was it anger, friendship, noise, or something totally different that lit the fuse?
Bruno: Hey there! Basically it started out to be a new project that was supposed to be in the vein of UK82 bands like The Partisans and Subhumans. I started to compose something a bit more surfy eheh then one day, Mariana found me at one random gig and proposed to sing in any new thing I had in mind. It all came together very naturally and perfectly!
When you were first building the band’s identity, did you have a moment where you said, “This is exactly the kind of chaos we want to bring,” or did it grow more by accident?
Bruno: The type of sound I was thinking of was pretty much what came out in the end honestly. That never had happened to me with such accuracy!
There’s a tension in your sound—between structure and collapse, between surfy swagger and hardcore punch. How conscious are you of those genre collisions while writing? Or do they just bleed out of you uninvited?
Bruno: I’ve always been fond of bands like The Cramps and of artists like Link Wray so for me it was always something I wanted to include somewhere. When I heard bands like Vidro, Exit Order or X2000 I think it was when the light switch went off in my head. So to answer, yeah, I think everything was a conscious decision eheh
Mariana’s vocal delivery carries a lot of fire but also restraint—like a switchblade barely tucked under the skin. How do you all work together to balance that edge? Do you pull each other back sometimes, or push further into the wall?
Mariana: Duality is present in everything we do. The sound, themes, the way we describe those themes… there’s always one extreme or the other. The way we express that verbally also fits into that format. I think there are things that can be said without “screaming”, because minimalism doesn’t always mean irrelevance… Obviously, there’s also an aesthetic aspect to how I want to convey the message, but I prioritize the balance between the violence and quietness that the themes call for. I think everyone in the band enjoys that, and at this point, we want to explore that feeling a bit deeper.
What kind of ghosts live in Rage Letters? I’m curious whether you see the album as a release of personal fury, or more of a collective scream. What’s the emotional map behind the writing?
Mariana :Once again, I’ll take responsibility and say that I wanted to speak from a more personal perspective and dive into mental health and break down this topic through issues that most people can relate to. The songs deal with everything from bullying to substance abuse — which are forms of violence and oppression — so, to me, it’s important to talk about these things and to make it known that these problems don’t just go away. Amidst all chaos, there’s someone watching, someone who’s heard, and who wants you to know you’re not alone. Most diagnoses are extremely isolating, and that leaves us vulnerable. I want there to be a sense of safety in listening to Rage Letters, because it was written for everyone who, in one way or another, is fighting to stay alive. Stay alive — even if it’s out of spite!
ow much do you talk politics when you write music? Do the songs come from lived experience first, or do you sometimes build them out of things you read, witness, or absorb from the streets?
Mariana: Right now, everything is political! I’m a professional hater of politicians and politics in general, but it’s hard to deny that the way you position yourself is, in itself, already a statement. In Diary of a Pig, we addressed a topic that was objectively political. In Rage Letters I created a connection between tools of oppression and mental health… Both are first-hand experiences and things I see happening around me… but the goal is to bring attention to these issues that affect the lives and well-being of almost everyone! -Mariana
The word resistance keeps showing up around your music—what does it actually mean to you, in your own words, in your daily life, not just as a press quote?
Mariana: I think we all have different ways of ‘resisting’, and I’m sure we all face very different circumstances… Resistance means you’re going to lose something or someone along the way — and as sad as that may sound, that’s okay, because you stayed true to yourself.
Tell me a little about the production side—how did working with Will Killingsworth shape the sound of the record? Did he push you in any unexpected ways?
IV: So, we did the recording part on our own and there are some mistakes but it happens! Will is a pro and a great person to work with definitely… He has a lot of patience and always helps you push your sound through new barriers, we think it helped a lot to get the final sound!
Was there any track on this LP that nearly didn’t make it, or that went through a full-on identity crisis before it found its place?
IV: In this band we never had that happening for now ahah all of the tracks were pretty much the first-try raw version of it and we think that captures some of the naturality of what we are trying to put out.
“Bubbles” is a short, sharp hit—why lead with that one? What did it capture that felt like a proper first punch?
IV: Of all of the tracks, we think that’s the one that captures the whole atmosphere of the EP the best! It has all of the ingredients that we hope that get some people hooked. -IV
Let’s switch gears a bit—what’s Porto like right now for underground music? Are there specific venues, collectives, or people holding things together?
IV: Porto right now is doing well in terms of venues and bands specially for the size of the city. We have a somewhat healthy punk scene with a lot of new bands coming up, so things are good. Most of the new kids showing up on the scene also have great political views and are super supportive! In terms of venues I think that the best ones we have are Barracuda Clube de Roque and Woodstock 69. Two great places with antifascist stances. Unfortunately we don’t have any squats or anything like that anymore here… it’s a very gentrified city…
Who else should we be listening to from your local scene or from around Portugal? Any records or bands from 2023 that really caught you off guard or gave you some kind of spark?
IV: Well, we would like to point out Agitat Solum, Hazing Lungs, Itami, Palegazer, Repugnator, 98AxE, Reia Cibele and we’ll do some shameless self promotion by also pointing out Scatter, Pester and Idle Hand since we also play on those bands eheh
Do you feel like there’s a particular Portuguese flavor to the way punk sounds or feels there, something you think people outside the country might not fully grasp?
IV: Sadly we don’t think so ahah we don’t have that thing that the Scandinavian, the Japanese or the Italian punk has… we mostly go after the classic sounds and end up playing something similar to US hardcore punk for example.
I’m curious how much visual culture plays into your world—do you imagine the aesthetic of the band in images when writing, or is it something that only comes later when you’re thinking about shows, covers, etc.?
Mariana: I have a visual idea of what I want to create when I’m writing lyrics. I’m a very visual person, and I think that also comes through in my writing. From the start, there’s a vision that connects both things. Obviously, I work on making them complement each other — especially with the artwork — since everything is already written and there’s no turning back. But there has to be a balance between spontaneity and that initial vision. That’s where I start, and then I hand it over to Alex along with my final vision. I can only work analog, so Alex and I discuss all the details, sometimes he gives me his input, and finally, with his magic tricks, everything comes to life! It’s pretty cool to work with him!
And finally, what’s something about Ideal Victim that people usually miss or misunderstand? Something you’d like to say but never quite gets asked?
IV: Well, we’re a feminist band obviously but some people put that as a main focus on our identity but the reality is that we’re as much feminist as we’re antifascist, anticolonialist, anti racist or anti homophobic. The point we’re trying to make here is to not just get the idea that we’re a feminist focused band just because we have a female vocalist. We’re feminist but it’s not the core of the band. That’s maybe why we did a total shift of subjects on this second record.
Free Palestine.