Split Dogs bring street-level fire to Rock ‘N’ Roll Business

Split Dogs kick the door back open

Bristol punk rock ’n’ rollers Split Dogs have returned with ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Business’, the first shot from their upcoming second album Nice N’ Rough, due out September 25 via Venn Records. It is a typically full-throttle reintroduction: two minutes and forty seconds of swagger, grit and zero wasted motion.

After two years of relentless touring across the UK and Europe, the band sound even more wired-in to their own strengths. There is a rough glamour to what they do, but it lands with the force of classic street-punk and rock ’n’ roll rather than retro cosplay. ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Business’ moves like a bar fight in leather gloves, all sharp elbows, hot engines and knowing sneers.

A single aimed straight at the industry

Singer Harry Martinez describes the track as a tongue-in-cheek look at the music business as a classic British gangster film, full of dodgy deals, oversized egos and characters you would not trust with your last cigarette. That same spirit carries into the video, which leans hard into the smoky backroom mood the band had in mind.

The DIY details behind the clip only make it better. A black Chevrolet Chevelle was drafted in at the last minute through a friend of the band, while the garage location came through another personal connection in exchange for a tattoo. That kind of trading-on-instinct resourcefulness feels completely in step with Split Dogs’ world: scrappy, funny, direct and entirely their own.

Nice N’ Rough promises more than just volume

The new album was recorded at The Station House in Leeds with Jonah Falco producing and James Atkinson engineering. The setting sounds fittingly strange and perfect for Split Dogs: a repurposed Victorian police station with an enviable VHS collection, where tapes like Heavy Metal, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Tina Turner live recordings helped set the tone.

Across 13 tracks, Nice N’ Rough is said to pull from the raw charge of Plasmatics, New York Dolls, Motörhead and The Stooges. But beneath the speed and swagger, there is a more reflective current running through it. Songs like ‘Be Somebody’, ‘Speed Demon’ and ‘Suffer’ point to a record with something heavier on its mind, balancing adrenalin with bruised honesty.

Nice N’ Rough tracklist

1. Be Somebody
2. Born Too Loose
3. Breaker
4. Get The Look
5. Speed Demon
6. Leave It Alone
7. Shake Sum Action
8. Rock ’N’ Roll Business
9. Mamma Said
10. Suffer
11. I Wanna
12. Dirty Denim
13. Power Out

Split Dogs live in 2026

Headline tour

26 Mar – Glasgow, Hug & Pint
27 Mar – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
1 Apr – Nottingham, The Bodega
2 Apr – Brighton, Green Door Store
3 Apr – London, Underworld
17 Apr – Bristol, St Nicholas Market

Festival dates

5 Apr – Manchester Punk Festival
25 Apr – Edinburgh, Scotland Calling
21 May – Burton upon Trent, Bearded Theory Festival
18 Jun – Bilbao, Azkena Rock
26 Jun – Zelebsko, Ultra Chaos Piknik
8 Jul – Cheltenham, 2000 Trees
10 Jul – Gierle, Sjock Fest
17 Jul – Lichtenvoorde, Zwarte Cross

German headline tour

18 Jul – Selters, Seepogo
19 Jul – Augsburg, Ballonfabrik
20 Jul – Tübingen, Blauer Salon
22 Jul – Cologne, Sonic Ballroom
24 Jul – Hünxe, Ruhrpott Rodeo
25 Jul – Trebur, Trebur Open Air
26 Jul – Munich, X Bar
27 Jul – Bamberg, Live Club
28 Jul – Dresden, Ostpol
29 Jul – Erfurt, Museumskeller
30 Jul – Hamburg, Welt-Turbojugend
31 Jul – Goldenstedt, Affecht un Buten

More festivals

7 Aug – Blackpool, Rebellion Fest
13 Aug – Tolmin, Punk Rock Holiday
16 Aug – Winchester, Boomtown Festival
21 Aug – Vordingborg, Gutter Island
22 Aug – Devon, Beautiful Days

Instore performances

25 Sep – Leeds, Crash Records
26 Sep – Glasgow, Blitzkrieg
27 Sep – Liverpool, Rough Trade
28 Sep – Coventry, Just Dropped In
29 Sep – Bristol, Rough Trade
30 Sep – Nottingham, Rough Trade
1 Oct – London, Rough Trade East

EU tour with Danko Jones

12 Oct – Potsdam, Waschhaus
13 Oct – Nürnberg, Löwensaal
14 Oct – Vienna, Flex
15 Oct – Budapest, A38
16 Oct – Bucharest, Quantic
17 Oct – Sofia, Pirotska 5 Event Center
19 Oct – Cluj, Form Space
21 Oct – Zagreb, Vintage Industrial Bar
22 Oct – Ljubljana, Kino Šiška
23 Oct – Salzburg, Rockhouse
24 Oct – Rubigen, Mühle Hunziken
25 Oct – Zurich, Dynamo
27 Oct – Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle 2
28 Oct – Ghent, Handelsbeurs
29 Oct – Frankfurt, Batschkapp
30 Oct – Haarlem, Patronaat
31 Oct – Tilburg, Next Stage
1 Nov – Leeuwarden, Neushoorn

New album ‘Nice N’ Rough’ set for release September 25^th Via Venn RecordsPre-order HERE