Short attention span punk with no time to waste.

Regal Cheer are a two-piece band from Brighton, comprised of Max Cleworth (guitar/vocals) and Harry Menear (drums/vocals), stripping their sound down to the raw essentials with a DIY ethos and ditching punk’s tired trappings to focus in on pure energy and honesty.

They launched Ugly Twin Records to put out their own music and that of their friends. With two band members instead of four, and 90-second songs instead of epic anthems, Regal Cheer are all about doing more with less. Their vibe is in line with the earnest intensity of classic post-hardcore with sweat and conviction in every shout and tight interplay between the two members. In February 2023 they unleashed Cans, a 10-track album of tightly wound punk, immediately garnering rave reviews, and in May 2025, their boldly titled second album Quite Good dropped, and became one of our standout punk releases of the year, with absolutely no fat to trim. Recorded, mixed, and mastered in a whirlwind three-day session with producer Tom Hill at Bookhouse Studios, Harry and Max sing and shout with anger, disillusionment, dark humour, and resilience, demonstrating that screaming out your worries with your mate can be a truly joyous release.

We caught up with the band to find out more:

Hi guys! What’s the story between scribbling two-and-a-half stars on your own album cover? Reverse psychology?

What draws you to writing such short, punchy songs, and have you ever been tempted to break the 3-minute mark?

Who are your biggest influences when it comes to loud and direct music?

Regal Cheer’s music balances heavy themes like fraying friendships, betrayals and the grind of daily life, but your sound has a chaotic joy to it. Is this tension of opposites a conscious choice?

In what ways do you feel you guys have evolved your songwriting from Cans to Quite Good?

Can you talk about being a DIY band in Brighton?

Who are some of your favourite bands, venues, shops and allies locally?

How do you decide who sings what?

What’s on the horizon for the band?

What is the ultimate goal of Regal Cheer?