Description

Trouble In MindLondon group The Tubs return to Trouble In Mind with their hotly anticipated full-length album entitled Dead Meat. The band were formed in 2018 from the ashes of beloved UK post-punk band Joanna Gruesome by former members Owen ‘O’ Williams and George ‘GN’ Nicholls. By incorporating elements of post-punk, traditional British folk, and guitar jangle seasoned by nonchalant Cleaners From Venus-influenced pop hooks and contemporary antipodean indie bands (Twerps/Goon Sax, et al).

Dead Meat is resplendent in hi-fidelity strum & thrum, incorporating fleeting elements of post-punk and indie jangle, but the groups penchant for trad British folk & Canterbury folk-rock takes a noticeable, caffeinated step forward. Echoes of Fairport Conventions decidedly English chime cross swords with singer Owen Williams lyrics directing Bryan Ferrys thinking mans libertine persona into a more dolorous outlook. Many songs (like Round The Bend and Duped) soar with an urgent strum under Williams acerbic lyrics, recalling a younger fiery Richard Thompson. They languish in an aching, bitter resignation (of both the situations described & the protagonists place in it), particularly near the albums second half. Others like the previously released I Dont Know How It Works, Two Person Love and Illusion (re-presented here as Illusion Pt. II and all rerecorded from their original 7-inch versions) up the urgency, implying that the journey for the person described in each tune is not over & may be even more desperate than before. The band has never been tighter & more dynamic, often imperceptibly ratcheting up the tension, an extra guitar strum overdubbed, a barely audible organ/synth cranking under a chorus or bridge, or unexpected backups from current Ex-Vid (and ex-Joanna Gruesome) vocalist Lan McArdle. The Tubs are poised to take over your stereo – theres no point in resisting.