The story of these four friends originally ended back in 2013 when their band Tribes went on indefinite hiatus. Roll the clock forward to 2020 where the mates caught up at a Dinosaur Pile-Up show, the post-Tribes band which included former bassist Jim Cratchley, and the Tribes fire was reignited.
Three years later, a relocation to Dorset and a reunion show in celebration of the tenth anniversary of their ‘Baby’ album which sold out in TEN SECONDS, new music was inevitable. That new music to complete their return proper comes in the form of ‘Rabbit Head’, the follow-up to their ‘Wish To Scream’ album. “Hard Pill” heralds the start of the album with frontman Johnny Lloyd singing “you come to realise there’s something burning inside us” within the first minute. A huge indie anthem to set the scene for their return, one things for sure, it feels good to have them back.
The jarring guitars on “It’s All Borrowed” are bettered only by another wonderfully anthemic melody. Individually, the elements are top quality but, combined, the end result is one of many bangers that fill this album. Elsewhere, a fuzzy, distorted guitar sound drives the engine of “-ism” while “10 Ways to Improve Your New Life!” has a thumping, arena-sized stomp of a beat perfect for the live environment.
Returning with fourteen tracks in total, it’s almost poetic that “Celebrate” is one of the biggest anthems on the album. Lloyd’s vocal’s soar above a gorgeous melody in what could have really been the title track for this entire collection. However, ‘Rabbit Head’ isn’t just about glittering indie anthems as, on recent single ‘Medicine’, Tribes are quite happy to get their hands dirty and let fly with three-minute moshpit bangers.
Labelled by the band as both a look to the future and a celebration of the past, ‘Rabbit Head’ perfectly captures both. Not quite on a Guns ‘n’ Roses level timescale, ‘Rabbit Head’ may have been ten years in the making, but it has been worth the wait.
“Rabbit Head” is out now and you can order your copy from here.
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