The Tubs – “Freak Mode” [Video]

London-based Welsh band The Tubs announce their second album, Cotton Crown, out March 7th via Trouble In Mind, and share the lead single/video, “Freak Mode.” The followup to their 2023 debut Dead Meat, which saw the band land on year-end lists from the likes of Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum, Paste, and more, Cotton Crown sees the “Celtic jangle boyband” (their own self-description) venture into darker, more personal territory while continuing to hone their highly addictive brand of songcraft.

Cotton Crown sees the band expand their sonic palette to take in a kaleidoscopic range of influences: everything from soulful pub rock, to Hüsker Dü aggression, to melancholy sophisto-pop gets a look in. As Pitchfork noted, The Tubs see jangle as a “vast world of moods and muses” and Cotton Crown sees them continuing to explore this world and creating a distinctly Tub-ular sound in the process.

This is in no small part down to Owen ‘O’ Williams’ vocal performance- often compared to a young Richard Thomson- and his frank, bleakly funny lyrics. Cotton Crown sees him delve further into his favorite themes of love-psychosis, unsympathetic mentally ill behavior, and the humiliations of being a musician in London. This time around, however, there’s a palpable sense of risk in his self assessments/confessions. Centered around life in the period following the suicide of his mother (the folk singer Charlotte Greig.), Williams sings of the clumsy, intrusive, and well-meaning social interactions that follow. Lead single “Freak Mode,” according to Williams, was written “about dating while grieving the death of my mother. It’s about making wacky tragicomic romantic assumptions and being an emotional freak, but also kind of being self aware about that and explaining it to whoever you’re shagging.”

The album artwork features an image of Williams as an infant being breastfed by Greig in a graveyard- a promotional shot taken around the release of her debut album (the re-issue of which was featured in The Guardian in 2023.)

COTTON CROWN TRACKLIST:
1. The Thing Is
2. Freak Mode
3. Illusion
4. Narcissist
5. Chain Reaction
6. Embarrassing
7. One More Day
8. Fair Enough
9. Strange

The essential trick Cotton Crown plays is to offset Williams’ lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection. This is largely down to the guitar work of George Nicholls, who, across the album, effortlessly slips between the virtuoso jangle of Marr, the driving folk-rock of Pentangle and the chorus-heavy hi-fi grooves of contemporary bands like Tops or The 1975. Add to that the breakneck rhythm section of Taylor Stewart (Drums) and Max Warren (Bass) – who attack each song with power-pop ferocity, recalling Guided by Voices at their drunken-yet-tight best – and you’ve got yourself a recipe for indie rock greatness.

PRE-ORDER COTTON CROWN