Chubby And The Gang And Then There Was Ruby Red With Lemon Yellow Swirl Vinyl Edition

Charlie Manning is Chubby AND THE Gang. The 30-something-year-old born-and-bred Londoner kicked off the project in 2019 with the intention of blending hardcore punk with the most infectious elements of ’70s rock ‘n’ roll and doo-wop. Charlie brought in a “gang” of rotating instrumentalists performing on the albums Speed Kills (2020) and The Mutt’s Nuts (2021), both released through Partisan Records. Fast forward to now, and for the release of the upcoming album And Then There Was..., Chubby AND THE Gang joins long-running hardcore label Flatspot Records. The album is 16 songs written and performed by Charlie, produced by Jonah Falco, and recorded and mixed by James Atckinson. It’s a mix of control and chaos, love and loneliness, rage and vulnerability. The songs scream to be heard in a live setting, but feel just as at home playing over the speakers of a dimly lit local pub. “There’s A Devil In The Jukebox” is a roaring punk track. “The Bonnie Banks” storytelling nature leads to repetitive refrain that is begging to be shouted along with. There’s the raucous and simply put “Anticop.” An expansive, drawn-out moment of facing mortality on “To Fade Away.” And the record ends with an emotive piano ballad in “Cocaine Sunday.” Throughout And Then There Was..., Charlie exposes his prowess for melody and exposition of true self.