The Louisiana, Bristol, GB
Friday, 3 May 2024
8:00pm
£12 + BF
16+ (under 18s to be accompanied by a responsible adult)
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Dirty Nice live at The Louisiana, Bristol. Friday, 3rd May 2024
“charming mix of off-kilter melodies and classic songwriting chops” The FADER
“mind-bending” Rolling Stone
“whimsical, playful” MTV
Dirty Nice is ‘Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’ composer Charlie Pelling’s musical project, with Lisbon based musician Mark Thompson. Pelling is fast becoming the go to composer in the UK comedy scene working with the likes of 2022 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Campbell and BAFTA winner Jamie Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats, Fleabag).
New album Surrenderland (out 3rd November 2023 on Chiverin Records) is both a physical place in time and also a state of mind. It acted as a guiding principle for the making of the record, leaning into their instincts and interests, with both the cartoon visuals and the music influencing each other’s processes. Charlie & Mark wanted to follow the fun with this album, not overthinking and naturally letting their love for noughties indie influences creep in. The body of work this led to is a vibrant and joyous celebration of acceptance in one’s self, exploring themes of growing up without stifling the inner child and giving yourself over to the people around you wholeheartedly. Surrenderland is being yourself.
The resulting album was a resounding success with two tracks featured in BBCR1’s Hottest Records of the Week and SHARK! making it onto the BBCR1 playlist. Repeated radio play from the likes of Clara Amfo (BBCR1), Jack Saunders (BBCR1), Jo Whiley (BBCR2), Chris Hawkins (BBC6Music) and Travis Holcombe (KCRW) as well as features on Rolling Stone and FADER built on the success of 2021's debut album Lobster, whichwon the band fans across all media, with critical acclaim at press (MTV, i-D, The Independent, The Times, Notion, Wonderland, Complex, DIY, Clash, DORK Magazine, The Line of Best Fit) and radio (Jack Saunders on Radio 1, Steve Lamacq, Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music).
Their technicolour world exists in the space between earthy personal vignettes and cartoonish uncanniness. In an age where every band/artist has to also be a content creator Charlie & Mark decided to lean into their interests of cartoons and comedy. In the last year they have amassed a cult online following into the hundreds of thousands across Tiktok, Instagram and Reddit for their creative animations, voicing and animating a whole host of eccentric characters themselves, further expanding the weird and wonderful world of Dirty Nice that all began with the music.
Even Florence Pugh has come out as a fan of Dirty Nice while speaking on the VOGUE podcast, and they recently brought their live show to the airwaves for a BBC session at the renowned Maida Vale studios. Tours with Dâm Funk, Elder Island, Cousin Kula and collaborations with Wet Leg - who contributed backing vocals to their ‘Sunshine End Times’ single - as well as Desta French and Bad Sounds have also expanded their horizons along the way.
