Sam Grant, guitarist and producer of the Sabbath-infused, sludgy rockers Pigs x7, first announced the arrival of his solo project Rubber Oh with the fuzz-tinged ‘Little Demon’ earlier this year. The hunger for the project has been stewing in Grant’s artistic appetite for a number of years; the long wait may be partly behind the hive of creativity on Rubber Oh’s inventive music.
Grant has now shared ‘Nothing’, further exploring unique electronic pop: rhythmic vocals issuing surreal lyrics (which Grant says convey paradoxical themes, “optimistic and hopeful, and equally readable as pessimistic and futile” – playing with the ideas of dualism and Nihilism”) amongst thudding bass, percussive keys, and scuzzy synth lines; a properly vibrant, subversive sonic world.
Grant describes the band’s output, and the cause behind their name, as so: “I want people to imagine that feeling of rubber – its physical memory, the unnatural vibe of it. It’s so tactile but alien, but also difficult not to know. It’s an odd analogy, but that’s what this music is for me.”
The glorious visuals from Teeth of the Sea’s Mike Bourne invoke the sentiments of the band’s music, as a colourful Kandinsky-meets-classic-video games affair.
‘Strange Craft’, Rubber Oh’s debut album, will be released on Rocket Recordings on 3rd June, concocting an appropriately bustling environment of psych-pop, driven in the starkly opposite direction of the chunky riff-based material Pigs x7 thrive in. Alongside Grant, ‘Strange Craft features two bass guitarists, Pigs’ Chris Morley on drums and Matt Baty (Pigs x7) and Beth Jeans Houghton (Du Blonde) included on the album’s backing vocalists. Pre-order here.
Rubber Oh will be playing a selection of gigs to celebrate the album’s release:
Thu 02 Jun 2022 – Manchester, YES
Fri 03 Jun 2022 – London, The Lexington
Sat 04 Jun 2022 – Newcastle, The Cluny 2
