RELEASE NEW SINGLE
‘DAD, I’M NOT A TOUGH GUY’
WITH ACCOMPANYING MUSIC VIDEO
WATCH HERE
THIRD SINGLE FROM FIRST ALBUM IN 10 YEARS
OUT 18TH AUGUST – PRE-ORDER ALBUM HERE
IN-STORE TOUR ANNOUNCED – TICKETS HERE
Camden heroes TRIBES are back with another bang in new single ‘Dad, I’m Not A Tough Guy’, from their first album in 10 years, ‘Rabbit Head’, out 18th August – via Downtown Music.
Pre-order Rabbit Head here
‘Dad I’m Not A Tough Guy’ is a raw retrospective track oozing with honesty and passion. Transporting the listener through a cathartic journey, the new track and video explores the complexity of masculinity, peppered with their signature sound.
The release of ‘Dad I’m Not A Tough Guy’ follows a show-stopping return in singles ‘Hard Pill’ and ‘Medicine’ — both of which debuted on Steve Lamacq’s 6Music show and the former has been added to the 6Music playlist — ahead of their album Rabbit Head out 18th August.
August will also see the band embark on an extensive in-store tour playing to intimate crowds across the UK, including London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, Leeds, Brighton, and many more.
TRIBES have also recently announced a mammoth homecoming headline show at the legendary KOKO on 22nd September, 2023 – pre-order here. In April, TRIBES performed a sold-out surprise show at Camden’s Dublin Castle offering a taste of what’s to come, and also played a string of UK dates supporting the DMAs, including Wembley’s OVO Arena.
On the new single, the band said:
“The lyric came to me on the sidelines of a football pitch in London after a brief encounter by a burger stand. It was the only time on this record I wrote the music afterwards. I sat with that lyric for a few days before I found the right chords. It felt really special when it came together, I’m so proud of that song. It’s for everyone who’s felt out of place in life, everyone who’s felt like they are not the person they are expected to be by society”.
‘Dad, I’m Not A Tough Guy’ is paired with a music video jumping through paintings and drawings by singer Johnny Lloyd’s and bassist Jim Cratchley’s kids, and other friends of the band’s children.
On the video, the band said: “Throughout the writing and recording of our new album we were surrounded by Johnny’s daughter’s beautifully bizarre noodly drawings and wild vivid paintings. No rules, full chaos. We’d be in the studio at my place writing and she’d be on the floor with her giant pad covered in ink and paint, having a bloody whale of a time. I do wonder how much her work actually inspired some of the songwriting… So anyway when we had to think of something for the vid… the answer was right there. We then thought it’d be fun to open it up to a few other friends who have crazy little people too, so we threw it all together and there you have it. Hooplah!”
Back with their boldest record yet, Rabbit Head captures both how TRIBES got here and where they’re heading next. They might have taken the long way round but the album feels like the one TRIBES were always destined to make. They are a band revitalised.
The Camden quartet, comprised of singer/guitarist Johnny Lloyd, guitarist Dan White, bassist Jim Cratchley and drummer Miguel Demelo, embarked on an indefinite hiatus following the release and extensive touring of sophomore album ‘Wish To Scream’ in 2013. Following a choice encounter between the four at a Dinosaur Pile-Up – Cratchly’s band since TRIBES – show in 2020, they were reminded of what they had lost and are now back, bigger and better than ever!
After this, and with the ten-year anniversary of ‘Baby’ – their moment capturing debut album – approaching, it was Lloyd who suggested they should do a reunion show in aid of the Choose Love charity. Originally scheduled for December 2020 at London’s Lafayette, it was pushed back due to Covid and upscaled to the Forum due to demand. It was an evening that made the band realise their fans were still there, hankering for a return. Lloyd reflects: “It sold out in 10 seconds! The crowd sounded like a football match, the whole place was on their feet, a huge amount of love was coming over and the passion of the crowd was so alarming.”
It was during lockdown that TRIBES realised they didn’t just want to look back, that there could be a future in a return as well as a celebration of the past. White relocated from London to a cottage round the corner from Lloyd in Dorset and the two got to work on what would become TRIBES’ third album.
“We went from not speaking to each other for eight years to living next door to each other in the middle of nowhere!” laughs White, who has handled production duties on the new record. “As the producer, I really want to understand what this means to everyone. What is the core of this band? This new chapter is about trying to capture that and use that to navigate this thing rather than ego or anything like that.” “Dan producing has been really important, it’s let us work it out as a band without another person behind there. We got into the core of what we were doing way more and Dan guided the ship.” says Lloyd. Working more as a songwriting partnership than previously, a new route emerged, one that melded both the band’s way with an epic hook and more intricate melodic interplay.
Lyrically, ‘Rabbit Head’ finds TRIBES older and a little more reflective than their younger selves. “There’s a lot more sincerity to the lyrics,” says Lloyd. “It’s a bit more open emotionally, subjects I wouldn’t have encroached upon in my early twenties, a bit more honesty.”
‘Rabbit Head’ is an album where TRIBES sound more assured than they ever have, a band totally in tune with themselves. It opens with the crunching rocker ‘Hard Pill’, placed up top because it was the song that kick-started everything. “It was the first song I’d written since the band split up, it feels like the end and the start of the band at the same time, it’s about the rebuilding of relationships.”
Johnny Lloyd, Dan White, Jim Cratchley and Miguel Demelo have learned that you can give yourself a second chance. TRIBES are back in business.
TRIBES UK IN-STORE AUGUST TOUR DATES 2023
7 Aug – Yes, Manchester
8 Aug – Record Junkee, Sheffield
9 Aug – Missing Records, Glasgow
11 Aug – Slice of Vinyl, Gosport
Sat 12 Aug – Hey Joe, Brentwood
Sun 13 Aug – Beyond Vinyl, Newcastle
Mon 14 Aug – Jacaranda, Liverpool
Wed 16 Aug – Soundclash, Norwich
Thurs 17 Aug – Banquet (Pryzm), Kingston-Upon-Thames
Fri 18 Aug – Vinyl Whistle, Leeds
Fri 18 Aug – Forty Five Vinyl Café, York
Sat 19 Aug – Rough Trade, Bristol
Sun 20 Aug – Truck, Oxford
Sun 20 Aug – The Six Six, Cambridge
Mon 21 Aug – Rough Trade West, London
Tues 22 Aug – Vinilo, Southampton
Wed 23 Aug – Resident, Brighton
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
