{"product_id":"the-tubs-cotton-crown-2026-repress","title":"The Tubs - Cotton Crown (2026 Repress)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e' second album, \u003cem\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/em\u003e, sees the Celtic Jangle boyband 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 (\u003cem\u003eChain Reaction\u003c\/em\u003e) to \u003cstrong\u003eHusker Du\u003c\/strong\u003e aggression (\u003cem\u003eOne More Day\u003c\/em\u003e) to melancholy sophisto-pop (\u003cem\u003eNarcissist\u003c\/em\u003e) gets a look in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Pitchfork noted, The Tubs see jangle as a ‘vast world of moods and muses’ and \u003cem\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/em\u003e 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 \u003cstrong\u003eOwen ‘O’ Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e’ vocal performance- often compared to a young \u003cstrong\u003eRichard Thomson\u003c\/strong\u003e- and his frank, bleakly funny lyric writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/em\u003e sees him delve further into his favourite themes of love-psychosis, unsympathetic mentally ill behaviour, 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. No more so in the track’s closing track \u003cem\u003eStrange\u003c\/em\u003e- an accounting of the clumsy, intrusive, well-meaning social interactions that took place in the period following the suicide of his mother (the folk singer \u003cstrong\u003eCharlotte Greig\u003c\/strong\u003e.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Williams says: “I’d tried a few times to write a song about it. The result had always seemed either mawkish, simplifying or like I was hawking my trauma. But then this one came out, and it felt right because it looked at something smaller: the weird, unsatisfying, strangely funny ways everyone, including myself, acted after the dust settled.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe essential trick \u003cem\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/em\u003e plays is to offset Williams’ lyrical bleakness with joyous, hook-laden blasts of pop perfection. This is largely down to the guitar work of \u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Nicholls\u003c\/strong\u003e, who, across the album, effortlessly slips between the virtuoso jangle of \u003cstrong\u003eMarr\u003c\/strong\u003e, the driving folk-rock of \u003cstrong\u003ePentangle\u003c\/strong\u003e and the chorus-heavy hi-fi grooves of contemporary bands like \u003cstrong\u003eTops\u003c\/strong\u003e or \u003cstrong\u003eThe 1975\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdd to that the breakneck rhythm section of \u003cstrong\u003eTaylor Stewart\u003c\/strong\u003e (Drums) and \u003cstrong\u003eMax Warren\u003c\/strong\u003e (Bass)- who attack each song with power-pop ferocity, recalling \u003cstrong\u003eGuided by Voices\u003c\/strong\u003e at their drunken-yet-tight best- and you’ve got yourself a recipe for indie rock greatness.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MERGE RECORDS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":59348486324569,"sku":"SDZ-52062","price":26.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":59348486357337,"sku":"SDZ-52063","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/0047106143_10.jpg?v=1788953903","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/the-tubs-cotton-crown-2026-repress","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}