HUNGRY, Manchester’s Fenland Gothic Rebels, Return with New Single, Cambridge Is On Fire

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best arts and entertainment magazine UK“, Manchester’s chaotic fun-punks HUNGRY return with scorching new single Cambridge Is On Fire, channeling fenland gothic history, sardonic political bite and unrelenting guitar energy into a fiery call to the barricades.

Manchester’s fun-punks HUNGRY have announced their first new music of 2026 with the release of Cambridge Is On Fire. The track sees the band channel unabated guitar energy and their signature crowd-mingling chaos into a sharp examination of forgotten histories and uneasy myths from the East Anglian fens.

A Strong 2025 Sets the Stage

Following a breakout 2025 that included an extensive UK tour supporting Midlands duo Gans and the release of their debut EP Are You The Best Yet?, HUNGRY are returning with renewed momentum. The five-track EP delivered on the intensity of their live shows, featuring standout tracks such as the fan favourite Sick Of It, along with lead singles Morning Coffee and the title track.

Blending riff-led, boppable punk rock with the insightful, frequently political observations of twenty-something outsiders, the band’s new material aligns their intellectual curiosities with their high-energy delivery. Cambridge Is On Fire signals a heavier instrumental direction while maintaining the chaotic, sardonic edge that has defined their sound.

Confronting History Through a Modern Lens

The single draws directly from the band’s roots, using historical enclosure laws in the fens as a lens to critique contemporary issues. It explores how the erosion of common land through private profit mirrors today’s exploitation of public spaces and cultural resources for private gain.

With confrontational yet sardonic lyrics, the song delivers a sonic boom of fizzing political rock. It forms the first release in a promised series reflecting the band’s current “fenland gothic” preoccupations, where lyrics and symbolic visuals articulate frustrations with middle-class comforts, over-analysis without action, nimbyism, intellectual cowardice, and easy deference to business and power.

The vast, desolate fens — shaped by profit-driven intervention — serve as a metaphor for a cultural landscape struggling under national hardship and cuts. Through the track, HUNGRY probe ideas of English identity, mutual assistance, and what the nation chooses to celebrate.

From Daft Pastiche to Post-Punk Purpose

Originally conceived as a playful pastiche of noughties indie, built on a silly bassline, ironic guitars and exaggerated Americanisms, the song evolved under the band’s warped post-punk-pop sensibilities. What emerged is a layered piece that scatters thematic frustrations across its structure, sharpening its messy chaos with the underlying sense that something has to give.

Schoolyard Roots and Manchester Life

HUNGRY consists of frontman and lyricist Jacob Peck, drummer Stan Rankin, guitarist Kit Thomas and bassist Jas Malig. The four schoolyard friends originally moved from Cambridge to Manchester as a unit, quickly embedding themselves in the city’s basement student party scene.

They have built a reputation for combining big mouths with big songs, often propping up Manchester’s hospitality industry through long nights that blur into bright mornings — all while delivering some of the country’s most entertainingly unhinged live performances. Their shows frequently incorporate thematic costumes and a strong gang mentality that turns audiences into co-conspirators.

What Comes Next

Cambridge Is On Fire marks the beginning of a new chapter for HUNGRY, one that promises further exploration of fenland gothic themes alongside their trademark high-octane live energy. More releases and live dates are expected imminently as the band continues to sharpen their acerbic missives on modern England while sweating it out in the nation’s sweatbox venues.

With their blend of historical insight, political bite and unapologetic fun, HUNGRY remain one of the most vital and entertaining voices emerging from Manchester’s punk scene.

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