Cancer Bats Announce Eighth Studio Album 'Give Me Dirt' With First Single Stay Stuck
Tuesday, 05 May 2026
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Joey Senft
Cancer Bats have returned with details of their eighth studio album.
The long-awaited follow-up to 2022’s ’Psychic Jailbreak’ is titled ’Give Me Dirt’ and will arrive on August 7 via their new label home at Marshall Records.
Produced by Coverge’s Kurt Ballou and Zach Weeks at God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, with vocals recorded by Ian Romano, the album draws inspiration from a year of travel, with songs about leaving city life behind, coping with personal loss and returning to nature and reconnecting with the physical world. Motorcycle travel also helped shape the record, inspired by rides through the Canadian Rockies and the mountains of Nepal just before recording. Announcing the album, the Toronto band said:
"We are beyond excited to be joining the Marshall Records Roster! From the amps that helped define the sound of our favourite bands, to their support of independent venues and their absolute punk rock approach to everything they do, we feel like this is the perfect home for Cancer Bats! Can’t wait to work with them on our new album and many more to come!"
Steve Tannett, Director of Music Platforms at Marshall Records, added: "We are so chuffed to have the legendary Cancer Bats join the Marshall Records roster in our 10th year, which coincides nicely with the band’s 20th year. The new studio album ’Give Me Dirt’ is testament to a band built on solid rock foundations, and we look forward to a brilliant release and lots of incredible shows - just how we like it!"
Alongside the news, Cancer Bats, comprising vocalist Liam Cormier, drummer Mike Peters, bassist Jaye Schwarzer, and new guitarist Jackson Landry, who replaced Scott Middleton in 2023, have shared the heavy first single Stay Stuck, which serves up their hybrid hardcore-punk-metal sound. Cormier said: "Stay Stuck was such a fun song for us to write. It was one of the first songs that we finished while working on the new record, and we really all felt like we had tapped into the classic Cancer Bats bouncy fun element we’ve had in songs since the beginning… The lyrics explore the idea that, at any age or moment in life, we all reach a point where we realise something has to change. Maybe it’s the path we’re on, or just the way we see things, but there’s that instant where we say to ourselves, I’M NOT WASTING ANY MORE TIME! We’re all moving towards something bigger, chasing goals and dreams that the world can’t take away from us. That’s what keeps us going."
Head below to view the song’s video, filmed by Mitch Barnes, which shows the band taking on a series of day jobs. On its motivation, Cormier shared: “The idea is that we were always having fun and staying positive in those jobs, thinking of the future that we knew was coming for us. I think a lot of times those jobs can feel like a grind, and we wanted to look more at the fun times and how it’s really just that stepping stone to really living your dreams. Cancer Bats as a band also just really like an excuse to make fun and funny music videos, so that was our whole thinking for the concept. A great cinematic vehicle for us to all have a really good time."
Cancer Bats will appear at Slam Dunk Festival in Hatfield and Leeds this month and 2000trees in July. They’ll also tour the UK this summer as their Black Sabbath cover band Bat Sabbath. Tickets are on sale now.
’Give Me Dirt’ tracklist:
1. World Wild Fire Death Race (Feat. Nate Newton)
2. Stay Stuck
3. Don’t Trip
4. Bright Eyes Of Gold (Feat. Chris Creswell)
5. Give Me Dirt
6. Long Tooth (Feat. Brooklyn Doran)
7. Speed Wizard
8. Ocean Crash
9. Positive Grid
10. Prognosis
11. Fool Like You (Feat. Efrem Schulz)
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