From the ashes of Joanna Gruesome come The Tubs. For anyone who heard their first EP, Names a couple of years ago, you know that this is a group that's worth following. The band's first full-length, Dead Meat, is out tomorrow on Trouble in Mind Records, and the breezy record is one of this week's real highlights. Owen "O" Williams sings, "have I lost the plot?" in opener "Illusion Pt. II", but the truth is that this four-piece sounds like it's found the key to making jangle-rock great again.
Williams' partner from Welsh band Joanna Gruesome is here too. And guitarist George "GN" Nicholls provies the hooks that make a listener recall R.E.M., The Clean, and The Verlaines. "I Don't Know How It Works", one of many gems on this record, adds Lan Mcardle from Joanna Gruesome on backing vocals to temper the rough chords. There's a Mekons-like pleasure here in how the brash edges of the melody are soothed by the twin vocal-lines. Elsewhere, "Sniveller", the lead single from Dead Meat, combines a rhythmic tension with soaring guitar bits and nearly-spoken vocals. Fans of acts as disparate as Fontaines D.C. and Bush Tetras will find something to love in this one.
The pieces of the music of The Tubs are familiar, yes, but there's a freshness here in the presentation, and a vigor in the delivery. With high levels of rough charm running throughout the compositions here, Dead Meat signals the arrival of a band worth getting excited about. I would say that if you like any of the artists I've mentioned, and are a fan of recent Comet Gain releases, this whole album is going to thrill you the way it thrilled me. More please!
Dead Meat by The Tubs is out on Trouble in Mind Records.
[Photo: Maria Cecilia Tedemalm]