Scottish noise collective Gutterblood return with “Good Dogs Will Never Die,” their most ambitious and politically charged record to date. Out October 10th, 2025, on their own label Gutterblood Records and distributed in the UK by Proper and Code 7, the album extends the dark terrain mapped out on their earlier “Hard Gandhi” EP. Recorded at Post Electric Studios in Leith and mastered by Ed Wood, it fuses doom, punk, spoken word, and political storytelling with the grit and restraint of a Dischord-era release.
“This record is for anyone who’s ever lost something, stood their ground, or refused to roll over,” says vocalist Tom. “We’re taking a stand on things that matter, things that are often ignored. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s meant to make you think.”
Bassist Andy describes the album as a continuous narrative. “We wanted to bring an ebb and flow to the album and sort of link each track to another. It’s meant to give you the feeling of a story and a journey, so it is kind of weird for us listening to a single song in isolation because they all sort of compliment each other.”
The opener, “24,” written by vocalist Bob, sets the emotional tone. “The pain and loss that a mother would feel for her child whose life has been taken away by an Israeli bomb must be unfathomable,” Andy says. “We asked our guest vocalist Lynzie to imagine herself in this scenario and she delivered perfectly. Bob kept his lyrics simple but hard hitting and personal.” The song is named for Maymana, a young Palestinian woman who loved graphic design. “She is just one of many thousands but every single one of these lives was unique and had a future and a purpose,” Andy explains. “By putting a name to just one person it hopefully makes it real and personal, rather than just another statistic on a news broadcast.”
Lynzie recalls the experience vividly. “As a mum of three girls this track hit the feels,” she says. “We can’t be too complacent on the effect war has on life. I wanted to deliver a soundscape intro for ‘24’: crying, screaming, the pain of loss — something emotive that would have listeners really listening and push the severity of the subject matter.”
For Andy, the song underlines a broader intent. “By highlighting the passion Maymana had for graphic design perhaps allows people in the west to relate more and realise that Palestinian society is rich and varied. They are real people who have had their lives destroyed. Their lives dehumanised.”
Throughout the album, Gutterblood’s DIY ethos holds firm. “We intentionally do not credit most of the band on our releases or even for putting together the artwork or running the label — which we do ourselves,” Andy says. “This helps to keep the band as more of an entity and not a vehicle for our ego. Gutterblood try to be more of a collective. Our line-up has changed many times as we often ask guests or lyricists to join us for a short time. The moment we start restricting our styles, sound, personnel or way of delivery then that will be the end of the band.”
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Each track ties style and message in direct proportion. “The varying styles all feed into the lyrics or the other way round,” Andy says. “‘Blue Flash Fantastic’ is meant to replicate the chaos of the protagonist’s life. The simplicity of our dubby track ‘Good Dogs’ is meant to reflect the simplicity of the lyrics. The edgy sorta spaghetti western (meets Fugazi at a waltz) vibe of ‘The Great Escape’ is kind of like a bleak spaghetti western set in Glasgow.”
Tom describes “The Great Escape” as “a tale of two halves.” The first is a half-awake ramble through his frustrations with modern decay. “I do 100% believe that the world cannot keep relying on technology and chemicals to get by. My town has been ruined by the conservatives. Once we even had the awful title of the only Tory seat in the country. Embarrassing times.” His political rage surfaces again: “WHO DID SHOOT WILLIE MCRAE? I don’t think we will ever find out. But he fought for peace and paid the ultimate price. We should all know his name.”
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The second half of the song flips tone but not tension. “People, particularly in the west of Scotland, genuinely hold deep rooted sectarian feelings and it’s fucking batshit,” Tom says. “It manifests itself mainly through the football. These people speak with sincerity about the troubles in Northern Ireland, with zero knowledge of what it’s like to live and raise a family in such brutality. The generational trauma of it is very real. They also love the King and bum swans so they can get fucked.”
His directness carries into “Good Dogs Will Never Die.” “This is a very simple song, I had actually written it as a 12 bar blues before anything else,” he says. “The kids do need a new hero, one that isn’t a fucking Instagram influencer or some boujee prick on the Internet. We’ve become a society obsessed with catastrophic arseholes. The bar is set pretty low for a hero at this point.”
“Who is Tommy? Is he a good guy? Is he the bad guy? Maybe Tommy did actually have a gun. Maybe it’s you?” Tom adds. “One thing is for sure, though, good dogs will never die. We all remember good dogs — your granny’s beagle, your pal’s dog that used to play with your socks or your own dogs you’ve lost along the way. They stay with you. Maybe the dog is a metaphor. Maybe it’s no.”
“Blue Flash Fantastic” digs into social collapse. “This is about desperation,” Tom says. “Pure and utter desperation. Sometimes you can’t do right for doing wrong. Sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Our protagonist has been abandoned by our broken state, as we’ve heard from millions of mouths across the country. Failure to protect the most vulnerable people is unforgivable. Forcing people to suffer because of bureaucracy is unforgivable. Leaving a child to starve is unforgivable.”
Guitarist Dave frames the band’s creative freedom simply. “It’s refreshing to have no limitations on what we do — no aiming for any particular style, just seeing what comes out, and if it’s good, it’s good. We all have very varied tastes in music. There’s nothing that won’t fit in, because there is nothing that is outside the scope of the band. No contrived ‘let’s do a song in this style,’ just doing what feels right and what we want to do.”
Lynzie, who also appears on “Good Dogs,” notes how naturally it came together. “‘Good Dogs’ was one of those uber cool guitar tracks that flows beautifully,” she says. “It was really easy to find my mark and join in. The album as a whole was a pleasure to be a part of.”
Beyond the music, Gutterblood still circle back to what drives their message — sincerity, loss, and resistance in a culture obsessed with spectacle. “We live in a world where a lot of people are desperate to be noticed and where self-gain is at the top of many people’s tree,” Andy reflects. “An age where some people are so driven by social media that their Instagram page dictates what they say and do — just for the opportunity of a good selfie or a chance to paint themselves as something they are not. So ‘Good Dogs Will Never Die’ kind of pays homage to the genuine folk — the thinkers and the revolutionaries who left behind their great words, works and ideas. Or even the person who was kind to you as a kid or the dog that you loved with all your heart.”
