The London born, L.A. based Billy Tibbals has caught my eyes and ears with his two recent mini-LPs, 2023's "Stay Teenage" and 2024's "Nightlife Stories," both of which were produced by Black Crowes vocalist, Brother Chris Robinson.
Tiibbals looks like Marc Bolan, sings like a cross between Brett Anderson of Suede and a not quite as chirpy version of Russell Mael, and his songs show both the swagger of British glam and the sleaze rock of Sunset Strip . And I say this with all due respect. I should also point out that some of the arrangements are by Lemon Twigs drummer, Reza Matin.
In a recent interview, Tibbals mentions listening to a lot of Roy Wood, The Beatles, Momus and Lyndsey de Paul. You'll hear those people in spirit, as well as a bit of the producer's band when Tibbals rocked a little harder on the most recent E.P..
I listened to both releases back to back which clocked in at a little over 30 minutes and there was never a boring minute.
Check out "Stay Teenage" and "Nightlife Stories" from Billy Tibbals toot sweet.
8 comments:
Sounds like it's in my wheelhouse -- I'll check him out!
Well that woke me right out of my work coma! Great stuff!
Oh yeah! A fair bit of Raspberries in there too. Excellent stuff.
It's great to go away, take a break from my computer, clean my head from being over overexposed, commercialized, and then return and check in with BW. So many good things to discover. Digging the Billy Tibbals tracks. Really do hear (to my ears) the Roy Wood and Mott influences. I had heard that Instant Karma version, and love it even more with the visuals. So much more immediate than the Spector version. Couldn't agree more with your thoughts regarding Crowded House. Not much more to say, you pretty much nailed it. And thank you for turning me onto the new Pokey LaFarge material. Really puts a smile on my face. Speaking of grinning, the Chris and Mick track - WOW! I love that. Thank you Sal for all that you do and making the first half of 2024 that much more tolerable. Going to need you now more than ever as we head into the election insanity of the next few months.
Saw Billy open for the Crowes a couple of months ago. As decent as the EP's are and as much as I like his influences, on stage he comes across as a poseur. Like a young kid pretending to be a rock star who has studied all his moves in the mirror. He's too enamored with the Quick, of all bands, and not enough of Roy Wood. And his band is no Quick, who were much better live than their albums. But WTF, he's young and could either grow or go. The whole thing might come across better in a club. But his performance rubbed me the wrong way. The EP's are OK. Chris Robinson did him good. I wish I'd never seen him live. Spoiled it for me.
VR
"But his performance rubbed me the wrong way. The EP's are OK. Chris Robinson did him good. I wish I'd never seen him live. Spoiled it for me"
VR,
This is exactly how I felt watching the Black Crowes open for Aerosmith on their first tour...'89-'90? Chris was on his knees, pounding the stage like James Brown and I suddenly hated everything I loved about the first album.
He got better.
The Billy Tibbals eps are fun and yes, every photograph of him looks like a kid doing dress up or Halloween, but I kind of love it. He is SO committed to it all. Together the eps are a pretty solid album. Here's hoping he keeps growing.
I saw him play some months ago! fun show. I put him in my "let's keep tabs on this one" section of my mind
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