Description
//Merge Records//
£22.99 – 1xLP
“Dead Meat” is resplendent in hi-fidelity strum & thrum, incorporating fleeting elements of post-punk and indie jangle, but the group’s penchant for trad British folk & Canterbury folk-rock takes a noticeable, caffeinated step forward.
Echoes of Fairport Convention’s decidedly English chime cross swords with singer Owen Williams’ lyrics directing Bryan Ferry’s “thinking man’s 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 protagonist’s place in it), particularly near the album’s second half.
Others, like “I Don’t Know How It Works”, “Two Person Love” and “Illusion” (re-presented here as “Illusion Pt. II” and all re-recorded 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-Vöid (and ex-Joanna Gruesome) vocalist Lan McArdle.
The Tubs are poised to take over your stereo – there’s no point in resisting.
Tracklisting:
1. Illusion Pt. II 04:36
2. Two Person Love 02:19
3. I Don’t Know How It Works 02:14
4. Dead Meat 01:30
5. Sniveller 04:18
6. Duped 02:09
7. That’s Fine 02:33
8. Round The Bend 02:14
9. Wretched Lie 04:09
