SONG PREMIERE: On “Vanilla” Liverpool’s Red Rum Club Brings Tenacious Post Punk Melodic Flair

With a band name like Red Rum Club, one can almost picture a supergroup of sorts with collaborations with the likes of Joe Strummer and Paul Weller. But instead, we have one of Britain’s (Liverpool to be exact) most promising post-punk acts with a dose of pop since Arctic Monkeys.

Recently, the band has shared bills with The 1975, Wet Leg, Pale Waves, Noel Gallagher and they’ve performed at Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Y NOT Fest, and more, and have racked up nearly 150,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and 50,000 followers across their social channels. Yet with angular rhythms and a throbbing pulse of anthemic club rock, Red Rum Club takes the essence of punk and splashes in undeniable hooks.

Glide is premiering Red Rum Club’s “Vanilla” (below), which plays up the band’s tenacity for fuzzed-up thematic alt-rock. From the opening chords and sly vocals, there is an early aughts British sound that heralds a rock revival of the truest form. With trumpet and big beat spontaneity, Red Rum Club also professes an inkling for the days of bands like Madness and The English Beat.

Though Red Rum Club formed in 2016, their profile began to rise exponentially in 2019 with the release of their debut LP, Matador, which garnered rave reviews and found itself at #5 on the UK alternative charts. Unfortunately, as was the case for many, fate would find the band unable to tour in the following years. Rather than slowing down, the sextet doubled their efforts, releasing two follow up albums—2020’s The Hollow of Humdrum and 2021’s How To Steal The World—expanding their audience and building anticipation for their live return. “We ended up touring both of those albums together after the lockdown, and the reception has been absolutely crazy,” says Corby. “Our gigs have such positive vibes, just everyone bouncing around and having fun. Some of our fans see it almost as a kind of therapy, and it’s a great thing to know you’re doing that for someone—it’s more than enough to push you to keep going even when it’s tough.”

Red Rum Club first made the trip to North America in early 2022, touring across the country and returning to the kind of medium-sized clubs they used to play in the UK before the pandemic, an experience that allowed the band to connect one-on-one with fans and reignite their passion for fostering community at their shows. Now, on the cusp of their second North American tour, the band is doubling down and ready to hit the ground running yet again. “These tours in North America are almost a bit nostalgic in a way, even though we’d never been before,” says Corby. “It feels like when we were first starting out, just playing music and getting people’s reactions, having a drink and a good time with them. These tours might be a fool’s errand but who cares? It’s gonna resonate with some people and it’ll be a great experience.”