Single review and Video Premiere
David Delinquent
The Lads Are Away / Lost In Dusseldorf
Out 1 June 2026
Diddy David from Dundee first formed The Delinquents more than a decade ago, from whence he got his adopted surname. He currently fronts David Delinquent & the I.O.U’s In between that and hosting a football and punk podcast he’s found time to release a solo single. And it’s a great, laddish punk rock anthem, says Ged Bairn.
Two songs about weekends away with ‘The Lads’ and the key line is “One more round before the train….” and you just KNOW how that story ends… with the train pulling away as you pile and stumble into the station and howl at the moon as the bastard thing leaves 30 seconds early.
As I said here, he may be a delinquent at heart but David is a committed and talented songwriter… good enough to compete on a national or international level.
This is a great single. One to unite ‘the kids’: punks – young and ancient, football fans, lads, lasses, drinkers and lovers of a catchy toon.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it sounds a bit like Green Day – so what!
“We’ve had a ‘cross between The View and Cock Sparrer’ as comparisons” Davey told me, but only because the View are local Dundonian heroes.
“When it comes down to it The Replacements and Green Day are the bands I’ve listened to the most, so the influence is bound to rub off.”
Here is the video.
The first time I saw it, I couldnae help thinking of Rab C Nesbitt and the young actor with dwarfism who played Rabs son Wee Burney. It’s the bandana thing around his heid. What a great opportunity to take the piss… I thought. Regional stereotype, but with no ill will. Every Scots ex-pat living and working in Engerland during the 1970’s and 80’s was nicknamed ‘Jock’ but always respected in the field of combat, banter and competitive drinking. Punks always had a lot of time for the Scots. Can’t Stand My Baby is on a par with New Rose when you think about it. Tartan became the cloth of choice…. After a bit of research though I found out that the Wee Burney actor Eric Cullen died young and had a tragic story of abuse, court cases and exoneration. So maybe I should scrap this whole paragraph.
The other ‘angle’ I considered was the fact that there seem to be so-many young female ‘punk’ bands around currently following in the wake of Amyl & the Sniffers world domination: Lambrini Girls being the most high-profile, Menstrual Cramps and Maid of Ace, the best, The Meffs and Split Dogs are having their day, and in terms of coverage, seem to be dominating the online music press. Long past time of course and great to see, but it means all-male ‘lads’ bands are starting to get a bit over-looked..
But not all males are toxic and David and his bands do NOT deal in old-school sexism like certain Rebellion staples, they just stick to musical cliché and songs about weekend drinking and partying. These songs 100% are about male-bonding alcohol-drenched rituals and they ‘aint nothing deep’, but there isn’t anything sinister either.
Gen Z, I read, are far less obsessed with going-out-and-drinking than previous generations so perhaps David Delinquent is somehow marking the beginning of the end of a working class culture by celebrating it, in the only way he knows how: Punk Rock and Roll.
It’s a great single – but the forthcoming I.O.U’s album is even better.
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