Cardiff’s resident troublemaker DADDY DRWG (that’s Richard Proctor when he’s being polite) is storming back onto the scene. Mark your calendars for August 1st, 2025 – his new single “Wise Guys” isn’t playing about. Proctor’s not here for subtlety – he’s taking dead aim at the bloated male ego, entitlement, and emotional cluelessness parading as modern masculinity, and he does it with a dark grin and a stomping beat.
Now, Proctor’s no newbie – he’s fronted Scream, Quicksand Charlie, They Walk Among Us, and The MelMelMes. But as DADDY DRWG (his daughters nicknamed him “Naughty Daddy” in Welsh – how perfect is that?), he’s really found his groove. After his killer 2024 solo debut A Tree Called Happy, he’s turned the volume way up on calling out society’s BS. “Wise Guys” kicks off with the bluster of someone who’s laughing at all these wannabe kings walking around naked.
The lyrics go deep. DADDY DRWG skewers the “Wise Guys” – you know, those guys who think they’re hot stuff but are completely clueless. They’re riding high on dumb luck and zero compassion. “Wise guys spend too much / Wise guys are out of touch / Wise guys have all the luck / Wise guys don’t give a…” You can almost see the eye roll and that knowing smirk, and it’s got that dark humour that makes you laugh while you wince – totally quotable stuff that rock music nails when it’s firing on all cylinders.
Right in the middle of all this roasting, there’s this beautiful moment that catches you off guard: “Slow, slow down the days / I know you feel the sunlight fading.” This isn’t random padding – it’s actually a brilliant shout-out to Welsh poetry icon Dylan Thomas and his famous poem about fighting against death, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Suddenly, all that anger and mockery gets anchored to something way deeper: that fear we all have about fading away and facing our own mortality.
This is rock ‘n’ roll with a brain and a serious bite. This is basically the perfect anthem if you’re sick of all that performative tough-guy nonsense. DADDY DRWG is holding up this twisted mirror, and trust me, the “Wise Guys” staring back don’t look so hot. Think you’ve got it all figured out? Come August 1st, let Richard show you how it’s actually done. You better be ready.