The Tubs - Cotton Crown

Merge Records is thrilled to reissue Cotton Crown, the second full-length album from Celtic Jangle boyband venture The Tubs.

Cotton Crown sees the group venture into darker, more personal territory while continuing to hone their highly addictive brand of songcraft. It’s a true level up album which sees the band expand their sonic palette to take in a kaleidoscopic range of influences: everything from soulful pub rock (“Chain Reaction”) to Hüsker Dü aggression (“One More Day”) to melancholy sophisto-pop (“Narcissist”) gets a look in. The band continues to explore this world and create 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 lyric writing. The essential trick Cotton Crown plays is to offset Williams’ lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection.

Guitarist George Nicholls 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 across the album. 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. 


On his jangle-pop group’s second album, the former Joanna Gruesome singer finds unlikely inspiration in familial grief. Against his glum lyrics and cold, stricken voice, the music chugs along merrily.

–Pitchfork