Cruel to be Caned is The Meanies‘ first single of their new album Desperate Measures.

Desperate Measures, slated for release in July 2020 via Cheersquad Records and Tapes, marks the first studio album from the band since their victorious 2015 comeback record It’s Not Me, It’s You amassed a slew of standout album reviews across the country and reignited Australia’s longstanding love affair with the influential punk-rock outfit.

According to frontman Link Meanie, the album title Desperate Measures reflects the drastic strides we take to stomach the current state of the world.

“Desperate Measures is an album title for the times, whether it be applicable to the rise of right wing anti-intellectualism, the associated denial of impending environmentally apocalyptic disaster or the cultural lobotomy of today’s popular media,” says Link. It’s hard to see a way through this miasma of illogical negativity without… (drum roll)… desperate measures.”

The charging lead single ‘Cruel To Be Caned’ depicts a tale of anxiety, depression and inevitable isolation, and the struggle knowing that such forced expulsion is at once entirely necessary, yet resented. The single also marks as the first time Meanies’ bassist Wally Meanie has taken lead vocal on a track.

Music by L. McLennan.
Recorded at Hothouse Audio, St Kilda VIC Australia by Jez Giddings and Craig Harnath.
Mixed by Jez Giddings.
Produced by Link & Craig.
Mastered by John Ruberto at Mastersound.
Photos by Peter Wheeler Photography.
Art & Design by Ben Brown.