Fast-rising London punks Chubby and the Gang have today shared a new single, Lightning Don’t Strike Twice.
The five-piece, regarded as one of the scene’s best newcomers, also announced a 40-date UK and Ireland tour.
Lightning Don’t Strike Twice will be released as a double-A-side 7in with another new song, Life’s Lemons, on Partisan Records on May 28.
Premiered yesterday by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music, it comes complete with a video inspired by ’90s internet cafes.
Frontman Charlie ‘Chubby’ Manning says: “I wrote this song about social inequality. Not mine but the people I saw around me.
“I feel like the whole premise of poverty is presented like this game in which if you play your cards right you can escape.
“In reality it’s more like playing a game of dice when they’re loaded against your favour. Constantly being struck by lightning and being told that it will never happen again.
“I remember witnessing someone’s telephone voice where they had to change their voice when conducting business or applying for jobs, so they don’t come across as if they are from a lower class.
“I wrote the last verse about that because it disgusted me that in a system supposedly created on meritocracy a human being has to change their identity to try and shake unemployment.
“I’ve had very few jobs that required me to go for an interview. No one really cares who you are when you drive a minicab or lay out cables, so I’m lucky in that sense. But many people aren’t.”
Second album
Lightning Don’t Strike Twice and Life’s Lemons will be on the band’s highly anticipated second LP, due out later this year.
Chubby and the Gang‘s 2020 debut Speed Kills – a fun concoction of hardcore, pub rock, doo wop, and blues – was one of the year’s surprise hits, and won the band a place of many end-of-year ‘best of’ lists.
As well as the new single, Chubby and the Gang announced a bumper 40-date tour of the UK and Ireland.
It offers a chance to see why they’ve become one of the most talked-about punk bands in the world over the past year. All dates go on sale at 10am this Friday, April 16.
Chubby and the Gang’s UK & Ireland tour dates
Nov 4th | Woking – Fiery Bird
Nov 5th | Bournemouth – Anvil
Nov 6th | Coventry – Central Library
Nov 7th | St. Albans – The Horn
Nov 8th | Hull – The Polar Bear
Nov 10th | Hebden Bridge – Trades Club
Nov 11th | Stoke – The Sugarmill
Nov 12th | Blackpool – Bootleg Social
Nov 13th | Edinburgh – Mash House
Nov 14th | Aberdeen – Café Drummond
Nov 16th | Sunderland – Independent
Nov 17th | Huddersfield – Parish
Nov 18th | Liverpool – Jimmy’s
Nov 19th | Sheffield – Delicious Clam
Nov 20th | Sheffield – Delicious Clam
Nov 21st | Milton Keynes – Crauford Arms
Nov 23rd | Exeter – Cavern Club
Nov 24th | Southampton – Joiners
Nov 25th | Oxford – The Bullingdon
Nov 26th | Bedford – Esquires
Nov 27th | Cambridge – Portland Arms
Nov 28th | Southend – Chinnery’s
Nov 30th | Tunbridge Wells – Forum
Dec 1st | Margate – Elsewhere
Dec 2nd | Dover – Booking Hall
Dec 3rd | Portsmouth – Guildhall Studio
Dec 4th | Brighton – Green Door Store
Dec 5th | Norwich – Waterfront Studio
Dec 6th | Nottingham – Bodega
Dec 8th | Birmingham – Castle & Falcon
Dec 9th | Leeds – Belgrave Music Hall
Dec 10th | Newcastle – Think Tank
Dec 11th | Glasgow – King Tuts
Dec 12th | Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
Dec 14th | Manchester – YES
Dec 15th | London – Scala
Dec 17th | Bristol – Exchange
Dec 18th | Dublin – The Workman’s Club
Dec 19th | Belfast – Voodoo
