Dirty Nice

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

“mind-bending” Rolling Stone 

“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 

APRIL 17 - Off-beat cartoon indie / alternative duo Dirty Nice release new singles ‘Like Best Friends’ and ‘Fine For Now’ ahead of their first ever headline tour in May (dates further down). 

Although still a duo, since dipping their toes into consistent live performance as a 6-piece band, they’ve been writing music with a view to touring - and thinking what would be fun to perform on stage, for them and the audience. 

‘Like Best Friends’ leads the double-salvo of this new era. It’s a sparky, jaunty paean to instant camaraderie, as the duo explain:  

“‘Like Best Friends’ is an ode to those rare moments when you just straight away click clack clickity click with someone - you just know you’re gonna be BFF’s. You’re the house and they’re the fire.” 

It comes with a hectic visual - and a rare IRL appearance from the band. They explain how it fits into the overall narrative: 

"A visualisation of that warped, lurching, lightning-powered feeling when you meet someone who you know you’re just gonna be friends (or more????) with forever. Shot on the streets of Lisbon, we follow a couple of people on a first date, finding their way, finding each other." 

Accompanying it is ‘Fine For Now’ - which takes pleasure in small wins:  

“Sometimes you just gotta take stock of the moment. Like a little kid with an ice cream cone, like a little dog chewing on a bone…you don’t care about nothin’ else.” 

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). 

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

The new singles follow acclaimed second album Surrenderland which came out late last year - featuring lead single ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ which has sailed past a million streams and 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) and radio (Jack Saunders on Radio 1, Steve Lamacq, Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music).  

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.