Slippery, Sleazy, and Brilliantly Bold: Love in the Circle Is 9 o’clock Nasty at Their Most Unapologetic

With Love in the Circle, Leicester’s provocateurs 9 o’clock Nasty serve up a twisted cocktail of lust, irony, and social rot, all wrapped in a slinky groove that’s as infectious as it is unsettling. The punk trio, Pete Brock, Ted Pepper, and Sydd Spudd, have built their name on genre defiance and gleeful audacity, but this new single marks a slick, seductive detour into something smoother, darker, and strangely sensual.

Right from the first note, the song slithers through your headphones like a snake in silk. There’s a decadent undercurrent to the production, tight bass, low-slung rhythms, and guitar work that pulses rather than punches. This isn’t punk in the traditional sense; it’s late-night punk, full of velvet shadows and dirty secrets whispered over half-empty wine glasses.

But don’t mistake polish for subtlety. Love in the Circle is dripping with the band’s signature satire, unapologetically weird, wickedly self-aware, and oddly relatable. It’s a song that makes you want to dance and debate social decay in the same breath. Somewhere between a dinner party meltdown and a morality play, this track finds its own perverse charm.

In a world choking on sanitized pop, 9 o’clock Nasty reminds us that filth can be fabulous and that even in chaos, you can still find a beat to sway to.