It had been a while since I heard anything great and wonderful about Tub Ring, so you can understand the slight thrill I got when I read that they had signed with The End Records in October. I was doubly thrilled when shortly after that they announced an upcoming album. Then came the hard part… waiting for it to be released.

*fade to a couple months later*

I’ve been listening to the new album from Tub Ring, The Great Filter, lately, and I have to say that I like it. Sure, it helps that I’m already a fan, not a fanatic, just your run of the mill everyday sorta fan. In the time leading up to the release of this album I wondered if their change of labels would also change their sound a bit too.

The verdict is in… They did change slightly. The Great Filter feels less erratic than Tub Ring’s previous endeavors. Admittedly, that is one of the aspects of their music that I really enjoy. You could almost say that these tracks have been run through a (Great) Filter—hey, bad puns are free, you have to pay for the good ones—. I should elaborate on this point a little. By “filtered” I mean that the tracks are tighter, the beats are crisper, overall the album has greater depth than what they’d done in the past.

With that said, The Great Filter is still chock-a-block full of those things that have made Tub Ring a great band. Foremost in my eyes are the versatile and distinctive vocals of Kevin Gibson. He switches from smooth crooning to spastic screaming like a manic depressive off their meds. This effect is sublime when you combine this with their always witty and satyrical lyrics.

Tub Ring has never been shy about mixing musical styles. The Great Filter is a sweet blend punk, jazz, funk, some somba, a dash of folk country, and let us not forget the xylophone&mdsh;you have to respect a band who can rock the xylophone—. All of these sounds (and more) make an album that is a nice blend of heavy/brash and soft/smooth. My favorite example of this is Killers In Love. Killers starts out with a sweet sad melody then rips into full screaming during the chorus. Another favorite, and probably most reminiscent of their the Tub Ring you grew to love is When The Crash Happened, it’s fast, upbeat, and was available for download via the band’s virb page prior to the release of the record.

All in all, I’d say that The Great Filter is an excellent album, if not a little more subtle than Tub Rings previous album. Definitely worth a couple spins.