For the June 25 episode of The New Colossus Sessions, Brad Wagner will host two bands from England - London's The Tubs and Portsmouth's Hallan. We'll refrain from making any jokes about it taking place nine days before Independence Day...
The Tubs were formed in 2019 by Owen Williams and George Nicholls of not-quite-defunct-but-not-quite-active Joanna Gruesome, but don't sound much like that band at all. Instead, their gloriously jangly but ennui-filled indie-pop throws back to the heyday of 1980s British alternative/guitar music, albeit with some more modern lyrical and musical inflections. Hear what the fuss is all about at their Bandcamp page, where you can hear tracks from debut EP Names ahead of its release on July 31.
Perhaps the best way to describe Hallan's music is 'dystopian post-punk'. Formed in 2018, they have both one foot in the future and one in an old world, mixing the two to create their own bleakly unsettling version of reality - in other words, if A Clockwork Orange were a band, this is quite possibly what it would sound like. Their debut EP, Reporting Live From The Living Room Floor, is being released on July 16. You can hear and find out more at the band's website.
This session will kick off at the usual time of 5pm EST on Friday, June 25. See you there!
