Sometimes is, essentially, what the classic fifties, rock ‘n’ roll, love song would sound like if it had spent the last half-century evolving, but not evolving so much that it wasn’t instantly recognisable, and made it through unscathed to the present day. This is not a criticism by any means; it is a fantastic musical form, instantly recognisable and familiar enough to feed into the listener’s comfort zone, yet TidyRubble brings something fresh to the sound. Fresh enough to make it a song very much of the here and now, even as it distantly echoes the sound of the past. It’s a song made in both familiar and totally new traditions—the best of both worlds.
And it works so well because Tidyrubble is smart enough to understand that a mere pastiche wouldn’t cut it, that just plundering past glories isn’t good enough and that a pastiche of what has gone before isn’t going to stand out from all the other cliches and covers and borrows and tributes that litter the musical landscape today.
Instead, he makes the format his own. A crisp guitar and a steady, simple and suitably spacious rhythm section where once the full chamber pop orchestra would be. A vocal reminiscent of what would have gone on in the past but without the unnecessary polish. (I think a voice needs to sound real and lived in, especially given the emotive nature of the subject matter…more of which later) There are some lovely dynamic ebbs and flows and a sizzling guitar break. This is the stuff—the stuff of now.
And on the subject of, well, the subject, the video holds some of the answers. Although on the surface this seems like the usual boy meets girl, boy is played along by girl, boy tries to figure out what the hell went wrong, it has been upgraded for the modern age. The video reminds us that whereas love was a tricky thing to navigate in the past, now we have all the additional levels that technology has created. The fakery and catfishing, the tease and the toying, the clickbait and the AI creations are becoming impossible to tell apart from the real world. Yes, the Internet has added about three hundred and forty-seven additional layers, tricks and traps, gizmos and gimmicks set to trip you up as if things weren’t bad enough already. they are adding more all the time!
It’s a song of duality. A song musically building a bridge between then and now, the real world and the fake, the heart and the head. It is a song perfectly in step with the modern age and built brilliantly from some already familiar sonic materials. And that is why it works so well.
