{"product_id":"the-tubs-hard-life","title":"The Tubs - Hard Life","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"48\" data-end=\"650\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"48\" data-end=\"60\"\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e have never lacked for ambition — on \u003cem data-start=\"97\" data-end=\"108\"\u003eHard Life\u003c\/em\u003e, theirs is to complicate the Tub-ullar experience. Having perfected their chemistry across two prior albums, hundreds of shows, and an ever-expanding universe of bands affiliated with London’s \u003cstrong data-start=\"302\" data-end=\"327\"\u003eGob Nation Collective\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cstrong data-start=\"329\" data-end=\"340\"\u003eThe TSG\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong data-start=\"342\" data-end=\"365\"\u003eSniffany \u0026amp; The Nits\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong data-start=\"367\" data-end=\"376\"\u003eSpike\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong data-start=\"382\" data-end=\"399\"\u003eGarden Centre\u003c\/strong\u003e), the London-based Celtic jangle boyband — \u003cstrong data-start=\"443\" data-end=\"460\"\u003eOwen Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass), \u003cstrong data-start=\"496\" data-end=\"509\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eDan Lucas\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar), \u003cstrong data-start=\"520\" data-end=\"538\"\u003eTaylor Stewart\u003c\/strong\u003e (drums), and \u003cstrong data-start=\"552\" data-end=\"566\"\u003eMax Warren\u003c\/strong\u003e (bass) — push themselves further into the shimmering heart of virtuosic indie rock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"652\" data-end=\"1072\"\u003eThey’re joined by frequent collaborators \u003cstrong data-start=\"693\" data-end=\"708\"\u003eLan McArdle\u003c\/strong\u003e (vocals), \u003cstrong data-start=\"719\" data-end=\"738\"\u003eGeorge Nicholls\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar), and \u003cstrong data-start=\"753\" data-end=\"770\"\u003eRachel Kenedy\u003c\/strong\u003e (keyboards), all of whom have orbited various Tubs-adjacent efforts dating back to \u003cstrong data-start=\"854\" data-end=\"873\"\u003eJoanna Gruesome\u003c\/strong\u003e, but the secret to \u003cem data-start=\"893\" data-end=\"904\"\u003eHard Life\u003c\/em\u003e’s lushness is the addition of fiddle player \u003cstrong data-start=\"949\" data-end=\"964\"\u003eChris Haigh\u003c\/strong\u003e, an instructor and session musician who left an indelible mark on British pop on \u003cstrong data-start=\"1046\" data-end=\"1055\"\u003eSteps\u003c\/strong\u003e’ \u003cem data-start=\"1057\" data-end=\"1072\"\u003e“5, 6, 7, 8.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1074\" data-end=\"1599\"\u003eMirroring Williams’ use of trilling on vocal melodies, Haigh’s fiddle shades the vocalist’s rueful croon like a bruise. On \u003cem data-start=\"1197\" data-end=\"1213\"\u003e“Stoop to Me,”\u003c\/em\u003e the folkiest, jangliest pop song on the album, Haigh’s licks complement Williams at his most self-deprecating, the lopsided smile of a guy trying not to let on how wounded he is in unrequited love. On album opener and title track \u003cem data-start=\"1444\" data-end=\"1458\"\u003e“Hard Life,”\u003c\/em\u003e it’s the sweetness of the ascending fiddle lines in the mix that weds the harshness of Williams’ lyrics to The Tubs’ fist-pumping anthemics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1601\" data-end=\"1971\"\u003eThe hard line Williams takes here and elsewhere on \u003cem data-start=\"1652\" data-end=\"1663\"\u003eHard Life\u003c\/em\u003e further troubles one’s idea of a Tubs song. The persona familiar to listeners of \u003cem data-start=\"1745\" data-end=\"1759\"\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem data-start=\"1764\" data-end=\"1775\"\u003eDead Meat\u003c\/em\u003e — to quote Williams, “navel gazing about romantic abjection, London squalor, and the indignities of grief and OCD” — is still present, but so too is a second voice, steelier and more experienced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1973\" data-end=\"2151\"\u003e“The second persona doesn’t have much time for the first,” Williams explains, “often haranguing him for his self-indulgence and immaturity; sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2153\" data-end=\"2437\"\u003eOn \u003cem data-start=\"2156\" data-end=\"2167\"\u003eHard Life\u003c\/em\u003e, these voices argue, pester one another, merge into each other and break apart, sometimes over the course of a single song. They’re two sides of the same coin, people who’ve experienced grief, disappointment, regret and shame, emerging from the wreckage as changed men.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2439\" data-end=\"2669\"\u003e“I’m interested in the way sympathy and patience for someone suffering always runs out eventually,” Williams says. “How this can be a good and liberating thing as well as a sad and brutal thing. But mostly they’re just pop songs.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2671\" data-end=\"2763\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eExquisite, irresistible pop songs. Spin them until the healing starts, then spin them again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MERGE RECORDS","offers":[{"title":"Indies Natural w\/ Blue \u0026 Yellow Swirl Vinyl + Signed Print","offer_id":58382874542425,"sku":"SDZ-47689","price":28.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":58382874575193,"sku":"SDZ-47690","price":27.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":58382874607961,"sku":"SDZ-47691","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/MRG890LPC1_thetubs_PV1.png?v=1782229201","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/the-tubs-hard-life","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}