Dirty Nice

WELCOME TO PLANET WEEKEND: DIRTY NICE’S SURREAL CARTOON-POP PLAYGROUND  

April 15 - Dirty Nice invite YOU to 2025’s most highly anticipated new realm of action, distraction, and satisfaction - Planet Weekend, a world of glitch-pop and guitar-driven funky, psychedelic indie, inhabited by a cast of oddball yet loveable cartoon characters.

Previewing the park’s good-time guarantee is gentle groover ‘Better If We Don’t’ - out now on all good screaming streaming services. On the oracular new single the duo say:

“A Fortune Telling from Planet Weekend: An old flame returns, stirring feelings long buried. Rekindle the spark and risk the burn, or protect your heart and walk away. The choice is yours.”

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Few bands manage to blur the lines between music, art, and escapism quite like Dirty Nice. Currently split between London and Lisbon, they’ve been building a cult following with their unique brand of surrealist "cartoon-pop" - the combined forces of animation and indie music wild at play. On their third album, they throw open the gates to Planet Weekend (23rd May, Chiverin Records), an amusement park inspired by 90s television adverts, their most ambitious project yet.

“Come on down to Planet Weekend amusement park and lose yourself in a world of excitement, where every day feels like the weekend!”

Led by the inventive duo of Charlie Pelling and Mark Thompson, Dirty Nice have a knack for pulling you into their oddball world. Known for their self-made animations as well as their music, they’ve created a multi-sensory experience online that’s as much about the visuals as it is the hooks. Think MGMT’s day-glo pop meets the Flaming Lips’ psychedelic theatrics, but with a distinctly British eccentricity that also draws inspiration from Charlie’s time composing for Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared.

The first taste of the album ‘Another Life’ has already seen 8 plays across BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music, by Sian Eleri, Alyx Holcombe, Tara Kumah, Chris Hawkins & Nathan Shepherd, followed by fizzing second single ‘What I Wanna Hear’ earning press attention from DORK, whynow and more .Soon after the album’s release, Dirty Nice will be bringing all the fun of the fair to Liverpool for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend on May 25th.


Acclaim For Dirty Nice

“charming mix of off-kilter melodies and classic songwriting chops” The FADER

“mind-bending” Rolling Stone

"i really love these guys, they feel really exciting and fresh for me right now. Creating this cult following online through their visuals and their sounds... they are creating this dreamy pop universe that I just want to be a citizen of. Get me on that planet right now" Tara Kumah, BBC R1

“weird and wonderful” i-D | “Now Hear This” The Independent

“vivid synth pop” The Times | “whimsical, playful” MTV | "upbeat wave of enthusiasm" DORK

“glorious, strange, and downright addictive” The Line of Best Fit | “pop gems” DIY

ABOUT DIRTY NICE

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).

Florence Pugh has come out as a fan of Dirty Nice while speaking on the VOGUE podcast. 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.

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, they further expand the weird and wonderful world of Dirty Nice that all began with the music. 

Planet Weekend follows acclaimed second album Surrenderland (2023) - featuring lead single ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’, which is fast approaching 3 million streams, and is being featured in new movie Novocaine feat. Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder (in cinemas now) .The album was championed by The FADER, Rolling Stone, CRACK, It’s Nice That and more. 2021's debut album Lobster initially won 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). 

Across the two albums the band have built a keen following at radio with Jack Saunders and Clara Amfo spinning on BBC Radio 1 (including Hottest Record In The World shouts), Steve Lamacq, Chris Hawkins backing at 6 Music..