punk

Bob Vylan

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British two-piece welding punk guitar to grime cadence, drums and vocals and nothing spare — blunt writing on race, class and Britain, delivered at volume.

Bob Vylan, pronounced 'villain', is built around vocalist and guitarist Bobby Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson-Foster) and drummer Bobbie Vylan (real name Wade Laurence George), stage names the pair use to guard their privacy. They formed in Ipswich in 2017, playing their first show just two weeks later; the name plays on Bob Dylan.

In their first year the duo released two EPs, Dread and Vylan, on their own label, Ghost Theatre, hand-delivering copies to record shops and booking their own gigs rather than working through the industry.

Bob Vylan is a British duo, a vocalist and a drummer both performing under the Vylan name, combining punk guitar and drums with the rhythmic phrasing of grime and hip-hop. The lyrics are direct and political, dealing with racism, policing, class and the everyday texture of life in Britain, usually in short, blunt songs rather than extended arguments.

Their debut album, We Live Here, was self-released in 2020 after the band said the industry had called it 'too extreme'. Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life followed in 2022, entering the UK Albums Chart at number 18, and Humble as the Sun arrived in 2024. The recorded sound is heavier and more electronic than a conventional two-piece, while the stage presentation remains stripped to voice and drums.

A chant led during a 2025 performance drew wide condemnation, leading to cancelled shows and the revoking of visas for a planned US tour; Humble as the Sun nonetheless topped the UK Hip Hop and R&B Album Chart afterward. The band later won a defamation case, and an apology, against a newspaper that had falsely reported a stretching routine of theirs contained Nazi salutes.

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