Man/Woman/Chainsaw are not here to gently introduce themselves. They arrive in Bristol on Monday 10 August with the force of a band who’ve spent their formative years sharpening their sound into something jagged, melodic and impossible to ignore. Their debut album Cannonball, released 7 August 2026 via Fiction Records, is the moment everything snaps into focus: a six‑piece London outfit blending art‑punk abrasion, post‑punk tension, indie‑rock urgency and experimental pop flourishes into a singular, multi‑voiced barrage.
Rough Trade Bristol’s in‑store events are always intimate, but this one feels particularly charged.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw have built their reputation the old‑fashioned way: ferocious live shows, a run of acclaimed singles and EPs, and early backing from BBC 6 Music, The Guardian, and Stereogum. They’ve been tipped as one of the UK’s most inventive young bands, and Cannonball is the record that finally captures the scale of their ambition.
Expect the Bristol set to lean heavily into the new album, its serrated guitars, overlapping vocal lines and emotional heft, while still pulling choice cuts from their back catalogue. For fans who’ve followed their rise, this is the first chance to hear Cannonball in a room small enough to feel every rhythmic jolt.
The album is a collision of intensity and melody, driven by the band’s distinctive multi‑vocal interplay that often feels like a conversation on the brink of collapse, sharpened by art‑punk edges that give way to moments of shimmering indie clarity. Across Cannonball, abrasive textures and emotional urgency sit side by side, creating arrangements that swing between chaos and catharsis, capturing the restless, shape‑shifting spirit that has defined Man/Woman/Chainsaw since their earliest releases.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw will play seven in‑store shows across August, celebrating Cannonball’s release week with close‑quarters performances designed to showcase the album’s raw energy.
Once the dust settles, they head out on a full UK tour from mid‑September to early October, bringing their explosive new material to bigger rooms nationwide.
This Rough Trade appearance is one of those early‑era shows people talk about years later, the moment a band on the brink of something bigger tests their new material in front of a crowd close enough to feel the sparks. Cannonball is built for the stage, and Bristol gets one of the very first chances to witness it.