Jun

6

One Vancouver retailer described Tom Holliston’s ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’ thusly - ‘put Captain Beefheart’s brain in Nick Lowe’s body, and then challenge that monster to write a Pointed Sticks album’ - nailed it! A gem of a CD, ‘Boy in Tub’ shows some terrific songwriting and musicianship, yet yields all of the expected Holliston quirkiness. ‘Smart Money’ is the hardest rocker, which has Holliston doing a hilarious Jello Biafra - ‘Ask anybody if they’ve heard me sing they’ll all say I sound like the lizard king’; while ‘Ladies Man’ is a terrific and catchy pop song. Add an homage to baseballer Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee and the topical ‘Celebrities on the Internet’ and you have a record that would easily chart on college radio, given half a chance. ‘If 9/26 is Your Birthday’ clearly channels Captain Van Vliet himself, while ‘Entomologist Pondering’ is a dreamy minor masterpiece. ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’ is a mature and accomplished work that deserves to reach a wider audience.


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