Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tubby Love - 2012 - The Real Thing

Reggae/soul
   [FOR FREE]
<a href="http://tubbylove.bandcamp.com">?</a>
  • 5 songs to download
  • You name the price (min 0,-)
  • You get the link if you register your email address
  • Listening recommendations: Miracle, Simple City
English
Something about The Real Thing just melts me a little. I think it has to do with bits like the chorus on the opener “Miracle”, where Tubby Love is joined by a choir of voices that cry “How will we ever know?” The words are so small, but the voices crying out in unison build it to something enormous and powerful: strength by means of unified weakness. There’s a sincere thread of community running through The Real Thing, reflected through Tubby Love’s thoughts on love (and yes, sex), the economy, and his home. Title-track “The Real Thing” impresses with its nimble rhythms, as Love spits out his feelings to the target of his affections. The unabashed sincerity approaches poetry at times, but it also leads to a few awkward moments (such as when he declares he’d like to “peel you like a banana and eat you”—that will put you off both sex and fruit for a while); ultimately, though, it’s as sweet as it is dorky. Elsewhere, he declares war on an economic system and society that he views as heartless on the surprisingly catchy “Simple Life”. “And when I go to the grocery store / It’s hard for me to find what I’m looking for / They don’t care about me anymore,” he laments over a background of dark guitar licks and the unwavering stomp of a bass and snare, a moment that has implications that are just as universal as they are personal. Not that I need to say any of this: on its own, The Real Thing is a very likeable listen. It’s easygoing, spontaneous, and loaded with catchy melodies, all of which Love’s voice carries well. What strikes me as most impressive, though, is the fact that after listening, I would genuinely like to get the chance to meet with Love and have coffee with him someday. He may be a small fish in the music world, but his work belies ideas that are much bigger.

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