The Tubs : Cotton Crown
The Tubs are, obviously, not the first artists on the planet to discover that it’s possible to generate a rather compelling artistic effect by counterpointing lyrics that are dark and melancholy against instrumentation that is bright, chirpy, and cheerful. But the band has clearly worked hard on refining a formula (underpinned by the sweet, pretty twang of George Nicholls’ guitar work and Owen Williams’ charismatic vocal performance, equal parts mournful and animated) that allows them to craft songs that blend together—and journey between—seemingly disparate emotional states with such a giddy sense of ease that the question of exactly how common the technique is becomes a fussy irrelevance. What’s important is the simple fact that the Tubs have brought this type of songwriting as damn near to perfection as possible.
The stories and themes that crop up in Cotton Crown, the band’s sophomore effort, are—in a word—bleak. Self-loathing, identity crises, sociopathy, body dysmorphia—if it can be found between the pages of the DSM-5, then chances are, the Tubs have written a song about it. The lyrics indulge in an unflinchingly cynical brand of introspection that borders on the theatrical. “I am a scammer in the world of love,” Williams confesses in “Chain Reaction,” “I am mold on the bathroom wall.” Or take “Fair Enough,” a song that details the complete breakdown of a relationship; “When it all just falls apart / You can blame it on my putrid heart,” Williams assures the listener. Alright then. And the album’s closer, “Strange,” tells us about the reactions of both Williams himself, and the people around him, to the suicide of his mother. “At the wake, someone took my arm / Said that you could write a song to honor your mum,” he explains. “Well, whoever the hell you are, I’m sorry / I guess this is it.”
All of this might reasonably lead you to the conclusion that Cotton Crown is best described as some kind of unendingly dismal weep fest. In fact, such a conclusion would be very wide of the mark indeed (not that there’s anything wrong with dismal weep-fests, of course. Don’t you know we put “Bug Like An Angel” at the 3rd spot on our list of the top 100 songs of 2023?).
A lyrical style that could come across as a tiresome trudge through the lengthiest, most melodramatic sick-note in history ends up being utterly transformed by the band’s superlative instinct for knocking out track after track of glittering, punchy, riotously upbeat bangers. Nicholls’ aforementioned guitar tone provides an essential pillar to this sound, consciously proffering a poppy ’80s vibe that evokes household names like The Smiths, thus plugging the holes left by Williams’ emotionally devastating lyricism with a few gentle layers of warm, buttery, jangly nostalgia. But the rhythm section (comprising Max Warren on the bass and Taylor Stewart on drums) are another indispensable piece of the puzzle. The serenely funky bassline on “Strange,” for example, or the lively, sharply motorik drum track that drives its way through “Chain Reaction,” elevate the band’s musicianship to truly exciting and admirable levels.
Channelling such sensitive—even morbid—neuroses through the blasé twinkling of an indie-pop guitar-group is a real stroke of genius, because it grants the Tubs’ music a unique and gripping quality that could never quite be achieved by their words alone. Which is to say, it gives it a sense of humor. As it turns out, the Tubs’ new record is the perfect vehicle to express not just the doom and gloom, but also the sheer absurdity that can often accompany mental illness. Sometimes, as the saying goes, you’ve got to laugh, or you’ll cry. And thanks to Cotton Crown, you’ve finally got a third option: now, you can dance as well.
Label: Trouble in Mind
Year: 2025
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The Tubs : Cotton Crown
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