A couple of decades ago, back when I used to go to SXSW every year, I was meandering down the street one night, heading from one gig to another, when I was stopped in my tracks by the music coming from a tent in a parking lot beside me. The sound was straight from a garage in the ’60s — angular and lumpy and rolling and tumbling and lurching, with a raggedy-piped vocalist yowling and growling and howling over top like a wild man. In a nutshell: It sounded almost exactly like the reincarnation of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band, with dashes of Tom Waits, early Frank Zappa / Mothers Of Invention and Howlin’ Wolf tossed in for shiggles.
Naturally, I instantly and completely forgot about whatever band I was on the way to see, veered into the tent to see what in the hell was going on, and discovered the band in question was a Liverpool outfit called The Cubical. I had never heard of them before. I don’t know if that was an average gig for them or a great night, but either way, they were on fire. And I was sold on the spot. Since then, I’ve tried to keep up with everything they put out. Now, sure, like any band, they have had their ups and downs. But they’re almost always worth a listen.
Here’s their latest single and video. It’s called Run It Off! and it comes from their latest album Cut Me Like A Hog, which came out last November. I posted something about it HERE. This song is a big-ass R&B stomper, complete with punchy horns and a big chorus. Frankly, it reminds me a little of Future Islands crossed with Nathaniel Rateliff. It is surely a corker. But honestly, I like the B-side Hey Hey just as much, if not a little more. It skews a little closer to the raucous, clanging garage-blues that I first fell in love with that night back in Texas. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. If you like it as much as I do, I suggest you take a dive into their back catalog on your preferred streamer — and while you’re listening, imagine hearing it out of the blue while you were walking down the godamn street. Sometimes, the music gods smile upon us.
