A Review of Toxic Barbecue’s latest single ‘Hater’

It doesn’t just spit in the face of convention – it flings a sequin-studded boot straight through it...

Clocking in at under two minutes, the North London outfit deliver a turbo-charged distillation of brat punk, 2000s pop kitsch, nu-metal jaggedness, and a trace of grunge grime — all shovelled into a blender and served with a wink.

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True to their absurdist, no-rules ethos, ‘Hater’ is a full-throttle burst of chaos that combines gleeful abandon with airtight precision. From the first second, the drums slam into gear with machine-gun urgency while the guitars carve out slashing, candy-coated riffs that echo the absurd maximalism of peak-era pop-punk — but dirtier, grittier, and completely unbothered. Over the top, the synths fizz and glitter like cracked neon under a nightclub strobe, undercutting the aggression with a seething party energy that somehow makes ‘Hater’ feel both vicious and euphoric.

Vocally, the delivery is all bite and bile — catty, confrontational, and delivered with the theatricality of a YouTube-fuelled meltdown. The repeated refrain ‘No, we can’t be friends’ is spat with relish, channelling both meme culture sarcasm and genuine emotional venom. It’s a track that’s as cathartic as it is chaotic — a punchy, anti-people-pleaser anthem for anyone over it, done, and dusted.

Following the groundwork laid by 2023’s ‘Entertainment Value’ and this year’s ‘A Cause For Concern’, ‘Hater’ proves Toxic Barbecue are doubling down on their pixelated punk palette. They’re not interested in scene allegiance or genre purity — they’re here to duct-tape irony to rage and set it on fire. Think glitter, think grit, think absolutely no apologies. A glitter grenade of pure catharsis.