Punk rockers Chubby And The Gang have announced their second studio album, The Mutt’s Nuts, set for release August 27 via Partisan. To mark the announcement they've also dropped its third single, Coming Up Tough.
The new single arrives with a rough and ready video that compiles scenes of sweat-stained young punks smoking fags on bathroom floors and spinning records in unkempt bedrooms. In the midst of the rubble, there’s up-and-personal shots of the band as frontman Charlie Manning Walker (aka Chubby Charles) spits hard-hitting vocal lines such as 'You did some crime, you weren't that wrong. They sent you down for fucking long. The world moves past your jail cell. This place is worse than hell.'
With a grungy, rumbling bass line, gritty vocals and a punching rhythm, Coming Up Tough is a fist-pumping punk rager that examines the realities of modern London, focusing primarily on government failure and the school-to-prison pipeline. The narrative is inspired by Charlie's own personal experience with one of his family members.
He explains: “Coming Up Tough is about a family member of mine who ended up going to prison at a very young age for over 20 years. He went in as a kid and spent most of his life in the system. Where’s the justice in that? You come out and have to prove yourself to a world that shut you away – what chance do you have?
"There’s no attempt at actual rehabilitation, no empathy, just a cage to be forgotten about. I wanted the song to feel like a snowball effect. The character gets thrown out of his house at first and it feels almost juvenile, but then as it progresses you realise the real trouble he’s in. And too often once you’re in trouble you can’t get out.”
Coming Up Tough follows singles Lightning Don’t Strike Twice and Life’s Lemons, which were released earlier this spring as part of a double A-side 7".
Chubby and the Gang have also confirmed a run of UK and IE shows later this year, and hope to tour the US extensively with The Mutt’s Nuts.
Listen to Coming Up Tough below:
The Mutt's Nuts tracklist:
1. The Mutt's Nuts
2. It's Me Who'll Pay
3. Coming Up Tough
4. On The Meter
5. Beat That Drum
6. Pressure
7. Take Me Home To London
8. Life On The Bayou
9. White Rags
10. Overachiever
11. Someone's Gunna Die
12. Getting Beat Again (Eppu Normaali)
13. Life's Lemons
14. Lightning Don't Strike Twice
15. I Hate The Radio
UK/IE Tour Dates:
Nov 4: Woking Fiery Bird, UK
Nov 5: Bournemouth Anvil, UK
Nov 6: Coventry Central Library, UK
Nov 7: St. Albans The Horn, UK
Nov 8: Hull The Polar Bear, UK
Nov 10: Hebden Bridge Trades Club, UK
Nov 11: Stoke The Sugarmill, UK
Nov 12: Blackpool Bootleg Social, UK
Nov 13: Edinburgh Mash House, UK
Nov 14: Aberdeen Café Drummond, UK
Nov 16: Sunderland Independent, UK
Nov 17: Huddersfield Parish, UK
Nov 18: Liverpool Jimmy's, UK
Nov 19: Sheffield Delicious Clam, UK
Nov 20: Sheffield Delicious Clam, UK
Nov 21: Milton Keynes Crauford Arms, UK
Nov 23: Exeter Cavern Club, UK
Nov 24: Southampton Joiners, UK
Nov 25: Oxford The Bullingdon, UK
Nov 26: Bedford Esquires UK
Nov 27: Cambridge Portland Arms, UK
Nov 28: Southend Chinnery's, UK
Nov 30: Tunbridge Wells Forum, UK
Dec 01: Margate Elsewhere, UK
Dec 02: Dover Booking Hall, UK
Dec 03: Portsmouth Guildhall Studio, UK
Dec 04: Brighton Green Door Store, UK
Dec 05: Norwich Waterfront Studio, UK
Dec 06: Nottingham Bodega, UK
Dec 08: Birmingham Castle & Falcon, UK
Dec 09: Leeds Belgrave Music Hall, UK
Dec 10: Newcastle Think Tank, UK
Dec 11: Glasgow King Tuts, UK
Dec 11: Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach, UK
Dec 14: Manchester YES, UK
Dec 15: London Scala, UK
Dec 17: Bristol Exchange, UK
Dec 18: Dublin The Workman's Club, IE
Dec 19: Belfast Voodoo, IE
