I Wanna – TidyRubble (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

If Sometimes, the last TidyRubble song I had under the pen in the dying moments of 2023, was an excellent take on what a fifties-infused, rock and roll ballad could be in the modern age, the new one, I Wanna, is totally of the here and now.

Musically, it is easy to see where it fits into the scheme of things: an energetic slice of rock built on classic lines, all chunky rhythms and squalling guitar breaks, melodic bass lines and unfussy back beats. But as is often the case, the lyrics add a stand-out dimension to the track.

It’s a song about obsession, the desire to have that one thing that will complete your life. Although the video makes the object of desire a guitar, one that prints money and cooks breakfast apparently, that could be a place holder, something to be substituted by a person, an object, a house, a job. Or perhaps it is merely a guitar. But it is also a song that touches on how marketing works, how you can get reeled in and fall for the glitz and glamour of their sales pitch.

But the fun starts when you bend your ear into the lyrics and catch on to the humour. Form having fallen for their ploy, TidyRubble is swallowed hook line and sinker. Not only does he want to get with the object/person in question, but it unlocks that obsessive streak within most of us and before long, he is declaring his love in extraordinary ways – he sees himself taking them home to momma, sleeping in the same bed as them, using their toothbrush, driving their car and even eating their goldfish! (Those with a keen eye will have seen the goldfish motif being referenced in Sometimes already.) What a wonderfully strange fellow.

But the great thing is that although the humour in the lyrics keeps getting more extreme, the song isn’t played for laughs, which makes the words even funnier. It’s like if Monty Python were a rock and roll band or The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band were…well, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, only with big guitars and fewer tubas!

TidyRubble is a master of the concept a sonic situationist; rather than make music in a set style, he can create sounds that best serves the thought that is spilling out of his head and adopt the most relevant approach, using what ever style or genre best serves the song. Versatile is the name for that—versatile and musically broad-minded.

As always, the results are excellent. If more musicians took themselves less seriously, or at least took their self-image less seriously, there would be more room in the higher echelons for music like this. Wouldn’t that make the world a better place? I think so. Actually, I know so!