Sleaze drops brand new double single

Coming out of the chaotic backstreets and busted neon of South East London’s nightlife, Sleaze are a band that’s kicking the doors off their hinges and planting themselves firmly in the middle of the dancefloor. Describing themselves, with zero irony, as “Post Pub Kebab Shop Glam Rock,” they’re as much a celebration of late-night hedonism as they are a pointed reflection of the modern malaise. Now stepping into the broader spotlight with their first full release via Agent Anonyme Recordings, Sleaze offer a double A-side punch with “Push Tuck” and “Daffodils,” both tracks making their screen debut in Lena Dunham’s new Netflix series Too Much, in which the band also appear.

Sleaze are fronted by the cigarette-charred vocals of David Ashby, joined by Bede Trillo on bass, Laurie Yule on guitar, Al Grumble on keys and Percy MacKay pounding the drums. They’re forged from the same unapologetically raucous crucible that gave us Fat White Family and Warmduscher, yet there’s something inherently theatrical and tongue-in-cheek in their swagger; a glammy grit that throws glitter on the gutter and dares you not to sing along.

Sonically, Sleaze blend influences with little regard for genre purity. With echoes Bowie and Bolan stumbling out of a South London boozer at 2 a.m., bumping into Warren Zevon and deciding to start a punk band. Lyrically, they exist in a world of bar stools, crumpled receipts, and emotional grand gestures that arrive a few hours too late. In David’s own words, their sound is “pop music distorted through photocopiers and analogue lenses.”

Lead track “Push Tuck” lands like a glam punk rallying cry, swaggering and soaked in a kind of nihilism. With a chugging riff and nods to Dr. Feelgood and The Stooges, it opens the set like a smashed bottle on a sticky pub floor. “The lyrics are deliberately vague,” David says, “but also on the money.” And he’s right. Between musings on societal assimilation and surreal smoked salmon metaphors, it’s a track that captures the chaos of trying to find your place, or break your way in, without pretending to have the answers.

Flipping the vibe but not the energy, “Daffodils” pulls things inward with a heartbroken slouch. Built around the failed gesture of offering out-of-date supermarket flowers to save a crumbling relationship, it’s tender in a way only Sleaze could make feel simultaneously tragic and anthemic. David’s vocals are cracked with emotion and cheap whisky, asking, “Will you appreciate my empty gesture / While I self-medicate to ease the pressure?” It’s lo-fi, rough around the edges and thoroughly engaging, offering a different side to the band’s epic sound.

Live, Sleaze have been lighting up venues from Brixton’s Windmill to Glastonbury’s Strummerville, all while selling out limited-edition lathe-cut singles to an audience who clearly get it. Now, with this full release and a Netflix cameo to boot, they’re no longer just the best band you’ve never heard of. Sleaze are here, mascara slightly smudged, boots scuffed and ready to remind you that rock and roll never really cleaned up.

Listen to Push Tuck / Daffodils below

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