{"title":"The Tubs","description":"\u003cp\u003ePhoto Credit: Robin Christian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMerge Records\u003c\/strong\u003e is delighted to announce the signing of Welsh janglepop raconteurs \u003cstrong\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e! The quartet — Owen Williams, Dan Lucas, Max Warren, and Taylor Stewart — are hitting the ground running, too, sharing word of new \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bandsintown.com\/a\/1322052-the-tubs\"\u003e\u003cu\u003eUK and EU tour dates\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, a cover of Metallica’s “\u003ca href=\"\/products\/the-tubs-fade-to-black\"\u003e\u003cu\u003eFade to Black\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e” that transforms the seminal power ballad into the pastoral, jangle-laden epic it was always meant to be, and their brand new album \u003ca href=\"\/products\/the-tubs-hard-life\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cu\u003eHard Life\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-tubs-fade-to-black","title":"The Tubs - \"Fade to Black\"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/the-tubs\"\u003eThe Tubs'\u003c\/a\u003e cover of Metallica's “\u003cstrong\u003eFade to Black\u003c\/strong\u003e” transforms the seminal power ballad into the pastoral, jangle-laden epic it was always meant to be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOwen Williams on “Fade to Black”:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Signing to Merge is a dream come true for The Tubs...we’ve been huge fans since we were teens. They’ve put out some of our fave records of all time and we could tell you them all here but we don’t have the space. Call Taylor on +** **** ****** if you’d like the full list.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI’ve always been a big fan of a Metallica ballad. Obviously I like the riffs too but I think there’s a weirdly beautiful and singular quality to their ballads, even though the lyrics are basically always trash. We thought it’d be fun to jangle up Fade to Black and give it a sort of folk rock reinvented outro to announce the signing.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739439067447,"sku":"MRG891digital","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/9a7e6bb40f35bbded85931ebdb920f6b60725737_b6c0162cf3dc24ff6cec0b235e60c487f8e57a54_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785382926"},{"product_id":"the-tubs-hard-life","title":"The Tubs - Hard Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eCheck out the music video for “Stoop to Me” \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nqyxUkQ-H6M\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e, and the video for “Who's Gonna Love You Now?” \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UultKdtvJ7I\"\u003ehere!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpon arriving in the United States for \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/the-tubs\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e’ first tour of the country, frontman \u003cstrong\u003eOwen Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e told \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, “We’re here to unite the country.” They piled into a van and criss-crossed the States, bringing their literary, bleary-eyed, world-weary, night-of-your-life highwire act to the masses. Along the way, they signed to \u003cstrong\u003eMerge Records\u003c\/strong\u003e, who will release \u003cstrong\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e’ third full-length album, \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHard Life\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, on \u003cstrong\u003eSeptember 11, 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e. Having perfected their sound across two albums and hundreds of shows, the London-based Celtic jangle boyband push themselves even further into the shimmering heart of virtuosic indie rock, with the addition of fiddle player \u003cstrong\u003eChris Haigh\u003c\/strong\u003e adding a key element to the album’s lushness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHard Life\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, the persona familiar to listeners of \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCotton Crown\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDead Meat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is still present, but so too is a second voice, steelier and more experienced. These voices argue, pester one another, merge into each other, and break apart, sometimes over the course of a single song. Lead single “Who’s Gonna Love You Now?” puts the scold front and center, while the album explores grief, disappointment, regret, and shame, emerging from the wreckage as changed men. “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.” Exquisite, irresistible pop songs. Spin them until the healing starts, then spin them again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Peak Vinyl (Natural\/Blue\/Yellow Swirl)","offer_id":52739440574775,"sku":"MRG890LP-C1","price":25.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP (Black)","offer_id":52739440607543,"sku":"MRG890LP","price":24.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52996580573495,"sku":"MRG890CD","price":14.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739440673079,"sku":"MRG890digital","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/3287d0c9ee89b101e311a0ba34f7233893653b7b_8c0338afefeb7e0c73f6119db9837d52931e55a3_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1789587730"},{"product_id":"the-tubs-the-tubs-band-t-shirt","title":"The Tubs - The Tubs Band T-Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo celebrate the announcement of \u003ca href=\"\/products\/the-tubs-hard-life\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHard Life\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e by \u003cstrong\u003eThe Tubs\u003c\/strong\u003e, we made this sick new band tee!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrinted on a 100% cotton unisex t-shirt. Made in the USA.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":52739440705847,"sku":"MRG890-TS-S","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Medium","offer_id":52739440738615,"sku":"MRG890-TS-M","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Large","offer_id":52739440771383,"sku":"MRG890-TS-L","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"XL","offer_id":52739440804151,"sku":"MRG890-TS-XL","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XXL","offer_id":52739440836919,"sku":"MRG890-TS-XXL","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XXXL","offer_id":52739440869687,"sku":"MRG890-TS-XXXL","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/efd84bf5b2d31cc40949bf625cd119d3272f6169_c7b7d3e0c8ef27eb379775a90daeec48e67b1c9d_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785382974"}],"url":"https:\/\/mergerecords.com\/collections\/the-tubs.oembed","provider":"Merge Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}