Albums to watch

Hard Life

The Tubs

Hard Life

Third full-length release from the Welsh indie rock band featuring contributions from Rachel Kenedy, Ex-Void's Lan McArdle and George Nicholls

ADM rating[?]

7.8

Label
Merge
UK Release date
11/09/2026
US Release date
11/09/2026
  1. 10.0 |   Mojo

    An album that consolidates and amplifies both 2023’s debut Dead Meat and last year’s Cotton Crown, transcending notions of what indie rock is supposed to be in the 21st century
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  2. 10.0 |   God Is In The TV

    It’s a ludicrous, entirely unexpected occurrence when a band release a single album that sounds like a Greatest Hits collection, but track after track, hook after blinding hook, and line after wry line, that’s what we get – every song building on the glistening brilliance of the last
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  3. 8.0 |   Uncut

    A record that is a ridiculously hook-heavy collection of songs - and one that unquestionably positions Williams as one of our most unique and arresting contemporary songwriters. Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The band’s post-punk-infused songs sink in quickly and stand up to repeat listens
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  5. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    The Welsh band's classic rock twisted indie folk on their third album demonstrates their earwormy ability to write a hook
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  6. 8.0 |   All Music

    Their most fine-tuned and sonically rich album to date, with 12 more fantastically catchy and emotionally turbulent songs in the style they’ve been perfecting along the way
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  7. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Britain’s best indie-rockers hold fast to their defiantly old-school sound, slipping wry sideways looks at despair in among hooky melodies that always sound like a good time
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  8. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    A consistently impressive record from a singular songwriting talent, brought to life by a remarkably talented band
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  9. 7.7 |   Pitchfork

    The UK band’s Merge debut is an album of survival: a set of fatalistic jangle-rock anthems with just enough joy to keep going
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  10. 7.6 |   Spectrum Culture

    On Hard Life, the Tubs finally homed in on a sound to match their self-supplied and tongue-in-cheek “Celtic jangle boyband” tagline. However, the description still fails to capture the London quartet’s complex context and the roughed-up heart that beats in their songs
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  11. 4.0 |   Far Out

    There’s only so many jangly guitars, high-pitched vocals, and tales of moving to the big smoke that one needs in an album before it starts to grate
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