Cruush – Rupert Giles (Heist or Hit)
Manchester alt-rock shoegaze band Cruush have made a return with lushly yearning single Rupert Giles, ahead of a UK tour in Spring 2026
Artist: Cruush
Track: Rupert Giles
Label: Heaist or Hit
Released: 7 November 2025
Find it: Bandcamp
While the new track from Manchester alt-rock band Cruush carries the name of Rupert Giles, the weary but loyal protector of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, this is as far as the reference explicitly goes. It will be enough to evoke in many a sense of stepping out with the reassurance someone of having your back, and the track captures this too along with the fear of disappointing that mentor, of struggling to live up to your own potential.
With warm guitars cushioning the sharp vocal, there is as much bloom as there is gloom. As we progress the gatekept frustrations of the lyrics seep around the edges of the vocal, the guitars take on an impatient squeal. Pulsing through this track is the heritage of ’90s grunge, with a classic quiet-verse-big-chorus structure that is familiar and comforting rather than overdone.
‘Emotional disaster / With my sun and moon in cancer’
The band said, “On a writing retreat to Wales we took a sunrise hike up Penygader. We listened to nothing but Neil Young, Brownhorse, and the Van Halen song Panama. We were sitting by this lake at 6am, with the sun rising, listening to it and all felt well. We knew we had a great song written, we were all sleep deprived and sweaty, the stars were aligning.”
The track follows on from EPs Nice Things Now, All The Time and Ladybird Song, both released in 2024, and Wishful Thinker from 2023. Rupert Giles, like these earlier tracks, seems to be created from that same bruised palette of Northern gothic but also hears a band really honing in on their sound.
Watch the video for Rupert Giles by Cruush
Watch the video from Arloday (Zac Arlo, Oliver Day) – Northern gothic given the ’90s MTV treatment.
Rupert Giles by Cruush is out digitally now. A AA single has been announced for release in early 2026.
Find Cruush: Bandcamp | website | Instagram | YouTube
Live dates for 2025/2026:
- 30 November – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds with Bug Teeth
- 5 December – Levenshulme Old Library, Manchester
- 25 February – The Lanes, Bristol (Free entry)
- 26 February – The Grace, London
- 28 February – Heartbreakers, Southampton
- 5 March – Headrow House, Leeds
- 7 March – Gullivers, Manchester
- 10 March – The Polar Bear, Hull
- 12 March – The Washington, Sheffield
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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