The Tubs Cotton Crown
The Tubs's Cotton Crown arrives as a taut, jangly collection that turns personal grief and romantic failure into sharp, hook-forward songs. Across nine professional reviews, critics point to concise power-pop songwriting and a persistent bright-versus-bleak juxtaposition that makes tracks like “Freak Mode”, “Chain Reaction”, “Narcissist” and “Strange” feel both immediate and emotionally bracing. The record earned an 81.22/100 consensus score across 9 reviews, a signal that reviewers consistently praised its melodies and literate lyricism even when responses were not uniformly ecstatic.
Critics agree that the best songs on Cotton Crown pair buoyant jangle and muscular guitar work with frank, often self-deprecating storytelling. Several reviews single out “Strange” as the album's devastating coda, while “Freak Mode” and “Narcissist” emerge repeatedly as standout tracks for their blend of sardonic wit and irresistible hooks. Commentators note influences from 1980s jangle and post-punk - Johnny Marr-style filigrees and Hüsker Dü-tinged rushes - but emphasize that literary songwriting and emotional honesty keep the songs personal rather than pastiche.
Where opinions diverge, critics temper praise with calls for the band to push beyond concise charms into broader risk-taking; some reviews rate the record more conservatively, noting familiarity amid polish. Still, the critical consensus suggests Cotton Crown is a rewarding listen for those drawn to jangly indie/power-pop that channels grief into catchy, resilient songs. Below you'll find full reviews that unpack how these standout tracks stake The Tubs' claim as both indebted to guitar history and distinctively their own.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Freak Mode
8 mentions
"the jangly first single “Freak Mode,” is less about how devastating it is"— Paste Magazine
Strange
7 mentions
"Strange, a rug-pulling track about how awkwardly people behaved after Williams’s mother’s suicide"— The Observer (UK)
The Thing Is
6 mentions
"But he knows he’ll "get away with it" (The Thing Is)."— The Observer (UK)
the jangly first single “Freak Mode,” is less about how devastating it is
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Thing Is
Freak Mode
Illusion
Narcissist
Chain Reaction
Embarrassing
One More Day
Fair Enough
Strange
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 10 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
I kept thinking about the best songs on Cotton Crown, and tracks like “Chain Reaction” and “Narcissist” keep returning as proof of The Tubs' uncanny gifts. The Tubs land melodies with laughably great guitar hooks and blackly humorous lyrics, so the best tracks on Cotton Crown - especially “Chain Reaction” and “Narcissist” - feel both ferocious and supremely melodic. The closer “Strange” is the album's emotional nail, handling grief with crushing honesty while remaining utterly pop. Overall, these standout songs show why listeners ask about the best tracks on Cotton Crown again and again: they are concise, devastating, and indelibly catchy.
Key Points
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The best song, "Chain Reaction", is lauded for its ferocity, tunefulness, and unforgettable hooks.
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The album’s core strengths are concise, melody-forward jangle pop that turns heavy grief into joyous, repeatable songs.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs make a persuasive case on Cotton Crown that their best tracks - notably “Strange” and “The Thing Is” - marry lyrical sting and irresistible jangle. Peter Watts writes with keen, literate affection, noting how “Strange” distills confession and exorcism into a bruising finale while “The Thing Is” demonstrates Williams' skill as a writer and musician. The record leans power-pop without losing folk concision, so when you ask which are the best songs on Cotton Crown you end up with those that balance heart and hooks. Overall, the album rewards repeated listens by revealing emotional heft beneath spry melodies and muscular guitar work.
Key Points
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“Strange” is best for its raw personal narrative and musical restraint that foregrounds Williams' lyricism.
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The album’s core strength is pairing literate, confessional songwriting with catchy jangle and power-pop arrangements.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs’s Cotton Crown finds its best tracks in the album’s buoyant replies to sorrow, particularly “Freak Mode” and “Narcissist”. The reviewer leans into the record’s odd joy - how songs like “Illusion” and “The Thing Is” pair glum lyrics with music that "chugs along merrily" - and that contrast is why these are the best songs on Cotton Crown. Stylistically crisp and tuneful, the album rewards repeat listening because its brightest moments come from the clash of bleak content and rollicking arrangement.
Key Points
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The best song, "Freak Mode," is the album’s high point because it barrels forward with frolicksome pep that offsets bleak lyrics.
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Cotton Crown’s core strength is its contrast of unsentimental grief and buoyant jangle-pop arrangements, making sorrow unexpectedly easy to listen to.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs barrel through Cotton Crown with a breakneck bravado that makes the best songs, like “The Thing Is” and “Freak Mode”, feel immediate and melodic. The reviewer frames those best tracks as proof that the band can marry punk energy to 1980s jangle-pop precision, and that melding is what makes the best tracks on Cotton Crown stand out. The praise arrives in brisk, punchy observations that treat the album's highs - especially “The Thing Is” - as both urgent and tuneful. Overall the strongest moments are compact, hook-forward songs that balance bravado and lilting melody.
Key Points
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The Thing Is best exemplifies the album's successful fusion of punk energy and jangle-pop melody.
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The album's core strength is its balance of breakneck bravado and lilting, 1980s-influenced precision.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
The Tubs deliver on Cotton Crown with a lean, furious joy that makes clear which are the best songs on Cotton Crown. The reviewer's voice singles out “Chain Reaction” and “Strange” as pivotal - the former a caustic confessional and the latter a devastating, rug-pulling coda. Williams’s sonorous delivery and George Nicholls’s Johnny Marr filigree push tracks like “The Thing Is” into anthemic territory, so these are the best tracks on Cotton Crown for anyone seeking sharp songwriting and emotional punch. The record remains swift, superb and exceptionally affecting throughout.
Key Points
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The best song is 'Chain Reaction' because the reviewer calls it caustic and highlights its vivid confessional lyric.
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The album’s core strengths are sharp songwriting, strong guitar interplay, and emotional candor culminating in a powerful closing track.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs don’t hide on Cotton Crown; Jeff Yerger hears the album’s best tracks - “Freak Mode”, “Chain Reaction” and “Strange” - as the moments where Owen Williams finally confronts grief with self-deprecating charm. Yerger’s voice reads the record as jangly, bright rock that makes morose storytelling go down smooth, and he singles out “Freak Mode” for its skewed view of loss, “Chain Reaction” for its rousing confession, and “Strange” as the autobiographical centerpiece. The review frames these songs as the best tracks on Cotton Crown because they pair blunt lyricism with buoyant guitars, turning trauma into irresistible hooks.
Key Points
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“Strange” is the best song because it ties the album’s autobiographical grief to unexpectedly sunny music.
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The album’s core strength is pairing candid, self-deprecating lyrics with bright, high-energy jangle rock.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs arrive confident and hungry on Cotton Crown, where the best songs - “Illusion”, “One More Day” and “Chain Reaction” - reveal the band coming into their own with razor-sharp melodies and bluntly poignant writing. The reviewer's voice lingers on the record's palpable vulnerability, noting Owen Williams's carelessly poignant lyrics that make tracks like “Illusion” quietly devastating. George Nicholls's guitar work is singled out as the connective tissue, shifting from the glimmering pop of “Narcissist” to the punk fury of “Fair Enough” and giving the standout songs their momentum. Ultimately, the critic presents these best tracks as proof that The Tubs can both honor rock traditions and push them forward without sounding derivative.
Key Points
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“Illusion” is best for its bluntly poignant lyric and embodiment of the album's vulnerability.
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The album's core strengths are authentic songwriting and versatile guitar work that bridge pop and punk influences.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs continue to trade in bright, jangly hooks on Cotton Crown, yet it is songs like “Freak Mode” and “One More Day” that land hardest, pairing quick tempos with emotional wallops. Patrick Gill writes with an affection for brevity and urgency, noting how “The Thing Is” flips from criticism to lament and how “Chain Reaction” confesses romantic scams, which makes those tracks among the best songs on Cotton Crown. The closer “Strange” is singled out as a should-be-mournful ode and thus ranks as one of the album's most affecting moments. Overall, Gill privileges the record's catchy immediacy even as he urges the band to reach deeper beyond their predictable charms.
Key Points
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“One More Day” is the standout due to its intensity and being likened to their best work.
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The album pairs cheerful, jangly sound with themes of grief and failed love, yielding catchy but sometimes predictable results.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Tubs sound like they solved the one glaring issue of their debut on Cotton Crown - more winners, sharper hooks, and polished jangle. The reviewer's voice delights in naming standouts, calling out “Freak Mode” and “Narcissist” as sweet jangle highlights while pointing to the Hüsker Dü-tinged rush of “Chain Reaction” and “One More Day”. It reads like an ode to earworms and sardonic vocals, praising the band's knack for catchy riffs without pretending the long game is already won. For anyone asking "best songs on Cotton Crown" the verdict is simple: these four tracks give you the clearest taste of what makes the album sing.
Key Points
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The best song(s) earn their place by delivering sharper hooks and irresistible jangle, exemplified by “Freak Mode” and “Narcissist”.
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The album's core strengths are concise, hook-driven jangle pop, sardonic vocals, and a higher baseline of consistent quality compared to the debut.