Chubby And The Gang – “Red Rag To A Bull”
A couple of weeks ago, the tunefully fired-up London punks Chubby And The Gang dropped “Violent Night (A Christmas Tale),” an excellent stomp-around holiday anthem about getting into a barfight and finding yourself in a holding tank on Christmas Eve. Remember Shane MacGowan spending Christmas Eve in the drunk tank? That was great, right? But Shane-O-Mac wasn’t fighting. Charlie Manning-Walker? Different story.
“Violent Night (A Christmas Tale)” was the A-side of the new Chubby And The Gang 7″ A Christmas Extravaganza. Today, we get to hear the B-side. The new Chubby And The Gang song is called “Red Rag To A Bull,” and it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Christmas, despite red being a traditional Christmas color and all. Instead, this one is all about being fucked over, which is an evergreen concern: “Go to church! Go to school! Save your words for another fool!” Yeah! Manning-Walker also uses the line “go fucking spare,” one of those truly delightful expressions that only makes sense in the UK.
Musically, “Red Rag To A Bull” is a ragged glam-rock stomp that sort of crosses over into blues-rock territory. At times, it sounds like Motörhead covering ZZ Top, and if you think that sounds awesome, you are absolutely right. It’s not a hardcore song, but the band still plays it with hardcore intensity. Listen below and go fucking spare.
The A Christmas Extravaganza 7″ single is out now on Partisan.