The Gulps have been touted for a while now as the most exciting new punk band about, making a severe mark on the London music circuit since the lifting of lockdown restrictions. But until now, unless you were lucky enough to find yourself in the audience at one of their reportedly riotous shows, we’ve only had one pretty barmy and contextless single in the form of The King’s House to whet our appetites.
New single, Stuck In The City, then, is big! Really, really big! The hype around them focussed on the punk element of their sound, a fury and ire that is doubtlessly there, but there is greater depth here, with rich melody to rival their 90s Creation counterparts, singer Harry All sounding like an early Liam Gallagher when the record closes in on the chorus, a tune more akin to Oasis and Ride than the spiky punk of The Hives. And although the bulk of the record is sung in English, the European band (from Spain, France, Italy, Lebanon) haven’t anglicised themselves in the least, reciting the entirety of the bridge in the singer’s native Spanish tongue.
If The Gulps have been Stuck In The City until now, they’re finally ready to be unleashed on the world and, if this song is anything to go by, they may just have the musical ammunition to take it over.