Grizelda Pughe unleashes absurdist fury on new EP, "Chuck’s Wheel"
Few debut releases feel as utterly untethered from the expected as Chuck’s Wheel, the wild, fearless first EP from Grizelda Pughe — the alter ego of UK-based sonic provocateur Ben Singleton. In a world saturated with genre-boxed playlists and algorithm-approved alt-pop, this six-song, 18-minute collection arrives like a haunted carnival rolling into a silent town: unsettling, brash, hilarious, and weirdly beautiful in equal measure.
Singleton isn’t shy about his influences, but what makes Chuck’s Wheel extraordinary is the way those touchstones dissolve completely into a soundworld entirely his own. You might catch a trace of Tom Waits' junkyard jazz, the digital unease of Aphex Twin, or the writhing punk snarl of Dead Kennedys, but none of it settles long enough to be comfortably named. Instead, the record morphs and mutates from one moment to the next, like an improvisational fever dream staged in an abandoned cabaret.
Opening with an unrelenting wall of guitars and theatrically unhinged vocals on the title track, the EP immediately dials into its singularly warped frequency. There’s a heavy, almost metallic edge at first, but instead of locking into a straightforward hard rock assault, Singleton layers in vocal harmonies that teeter between parody and menace. It’s confrontational but never predictable, with riffs that feel as much like performance art as rock ‘n’ roll.
Even as the EP dips into lighter, more absurdist territory, it never loses its sense of manic purpose. There’s a track midway through that evokes a seedy lounge act on the brink of collapse, moments before erupting into a jagged punk anthem that feels both anarchic and meticulously constructed. Singleton’s voice — a chameleonic instrument capable of menace, tenderness, and clownish glee — leads the charge through the EP’s shifting soundscape like a master of ceremonies for some infernal traveling circus.
And while the vocals grab immediate attention, the instrumental work here is nothing short of outstanding. Singleton, who handles nearly every element himself, conjures huge, fuzzed-out guitar tones, abrasive basslines, and percussion that ranges from thunderous to delicately off-kilter. His production aesthetic is dense and immersive, making headphones an absolute necessity to catch the strange textures and submerged sonic details lurking beneath the chaos.
There’s also a gleeful embrace of the theatrical, the absurd, and the grotesque. This is an EP unafraid to be bizarre, to crank the distortion and dial up the carnival organ, to suddenly pivot into tender weirdness before lurching back into unhinged punk fury. Even a bold, unorthodox Hendrix cover tucked into the setlist manages to feel less like a novelty and more like a fevered séance.
What Grizelda Pughe has conjured here isn’t just a collection of songs, but a fully realized world, one that feels like it arrived through a portal opened in some forgotten, late-night broadcast of The Grizelda Pughe Show. In an age of polished, palatable content, Chuck’s Wheel is a rare and necessary act of joyful defiance. It’s raw, unclassifiable, and alive with a feral creativity that can’t be faked.
After one spin through this delirious, terrifying, and strangely beautiful EP, you’ll be convinced he may have summoned something far weirder and more wonderful than even he expected. Through multiple listens, we’ve come to the conclusion that we love it! Go ahead and give it a spin for yourselves and make sure to follow along for more by clicking those links below.
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