Back in December Sam Grant from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs revealed 'Little Demon' the debut ltd edition 7" by his new project Rubber Oh. And now a couple of months later Rubber Oh have released a brand new single called 'Nothing' – a taster for what to expect from the band's debut album 'Strange Craft' which is released on 3rd June.
Watch the amazing video for 'Nothing' which was made by the hyper talented Mike Bourne (Teeth of the Sea) above.
You can also stream the single 'Nothing' here: Stream
The incredible cover art for 'Strange Craft' was created by the very talented 3D artist Santi Zoraidez.
-
You can preorder Strange Craft on a special Rocket Edition that can be bought via the link below. Rough Trade also have an exclusive Pink/Grey splatter vinyl, and all other shops have a ltd edition Yellow vinyl version for presale.
The album is also being released on ltd CD in a mini-gatefold-LP sleeve:
-
Rubber Oh have also announced the first few live shows, you can catch them at these venues:
June 02 / Manchester/ YES
June 03 / London/ The Lexington
June 04 / Newcastle/ The Cluny 2
-
Inspiration can strike anyone at any time, and more often than not from somewhat peculiar quarters. Rarely more so than when Sam Grant - thus far best known as guitarist and producer of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - finally set about work on a solo project that had been pursuing him for some years. “It’s easier to describe it materialistically than by any other way.” he reasons “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.”
A specific gravity is one more property that rubber has going for it, and that much is certainly true of Rubber Oh’s debut album ‘Strange Craft’, the result of his elasticated fixation, and his debut album of deliriously tuneful sci-fi tinged psych-pop. Mapping out a retro-futuristic trajectory that stretches from the wide-eyed travails of the late-’60s through to the hard-edged mind expansions of the 21st century, this collection of warped interstellar voyages is intent on taking the scenic route across the cosmic continuum.
The project took shape initially in snatched hours around Grant’s regular job as studio engineer at Newcastle’s Blank Studios. Not content with completely revamping this facility over the pandemic period, Rubber Oh initially took shape as a means for pure indulgence on the part of its creator, in which he could set about scratching every itch that he’d been forced to discard when working for others.
Paradoxically, certain rules of thumb were utilised, with each track constructed - some might argue in counter-intuitive approach to the riff-driven world of his main band - across a subterranean low-end bedrock of two bass guitarists, a complete absence of cymbal wash, and only single notes allowed on guitar. While he performed the majority of the music, help from friends and acquaintances was enlisted, such as Pigs’ Chris Morley on drums as well as Matt Baty [Pigs x7] and Beth Jeans Houghton [Du Blonde] counting amongst the backing vocalists, all amidst a wash of celestial ambience and curlicues of analogue synth.
The result is a unique soundworld in which an emphasis on beguiling melody marries a kaleidoscopic grandeur. Widescreen gems like the radiant Children Of Alchemy, the hard-edged and paranoid brain-melter Little Demon, and the unshakeable earworm Hyperdrive Fantasy are all vibrant colour and celestial energy, setting their psychic stall out somewhere between the incandescent headspace of a ‘70s sci-fi TV show and the red-light-fever of the overheated ampstacks Grant has been historically more familiar with.
Ultimately, for Grant as well as everyone else, Rubber Oh amounts to one strange trip - “Many of the lyrics are about alchemy, journeying and vessels, as interchangeable metaphors for knowledge and wisdom” he says. “I wanted to mesh the land and sea, the cosmos and the psyche across the tracks as one single plane” Mission accomplished, in short. This Strange Craft is fuelled up and ready to accept all comers on a ride into extensions through dimensions.
---
