The way it's going, the story about KUBB frontman Harry Collier being 'discovered' by Dido's brother while working as a waiter at an organic cafe may well end up being bandied around as much as the one about John meeting Paul for the first time at the Woolton village fete.
However, cliche and repetition aside, it's a story that's worth repeating because it's basically the pivotal point in Kubb's early story and one which has led to several soulful'n'smouldering singles and finally this debut album "Mother": a record which is already being tipped for great things as it contemplates hitting the racks.
And, for a change, it seems maybe the hype is justified. Yes, Harry Collier's acrobatic, but controlled swoon'n'smoulder of a voice is he inevitable focal point, but Kubb as a unit knit together intuitively and -with help from seasoned producer Youth (Crowded House, The Verve, Embrace) - have collectively fashioned a consistently fine debut album which is long on gravitas and unafraid to tackle some emotional switchbacks along the way.
"Mother" is a record that bleeds, nay haemorrhages epic pop intent. The singles you'll probably already know: there's "Somebody Else" - a huge flight of fancy buoyed up by wandering midnight piano and kissed by Collier's (yeah, I'm gonna use it, so sod ya) Buckley-esque vocals - the enigmatic and moody indie-superior "Remain" and the new "Wicked Soul" which is built around a strident piano motif, sweeping drama and an apparently inbuilt ability to do well on radio without sacrificing its' soul in the process.
But to Kubb's credit, they attack virtually everything here with the same intensity and indeed "Mother" is a record where just about all of the tracks could be plucked for single purposes. Occasionally, they succumb to the urge to rock of a fashion, such as on "I Don't Mind" or "If I Can't Have You". The former is based around a circular bassline (a la Shack's "I Know You Well") and even dips its' toe into kaleidoscopic psychedelia, while "If I Can't Have You" is deceptively jaunty, but tows a distinctly dark undertow in its' wake ("My peace of mind follows you every time you take flight" sings Collier at one point) but also has the cheek to get away with an Edie Brickell-style wah-wah guitar solo.
But mostly Kubb do what they do best and simply give in to the magnetic pull of the smouldering, four/ five minute epics they are naturally inclined towards. Crucially, though, Kubb do understand the need to keep the excesses reined in at times, which is why songs like "Alcatraz" and "Sun" are so good. Both are based around emotive piano set-pieces and find the band building their towers of song high and sturdy and "Sun" - where Collier dives into the molten regret of the "I hope the sun will shine again for me and I will make it in the end" chorus - is especially heart-rending in the best possible way.
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Naturally, though, the temptation to pull out the stops is simply just too strong at times, so it's no surprise that Kubb are positively gleeful about chucking in even the kitchen sink on tracks like "Grow" and "Chemical". The former is the kind of automatic lighter-waver that Wembley Arena was built for with the strings ready to weep from the outset, while the regretful, hard-won and possibly anti-drug "Chemical" soaks in an eerily spectral chorus which will roll around your brain for an age. Sure, both of them will sort the wheat from the indie chaff in no undertain manner, but Kubb's desire to sound positively enormous appears to be their calling and when they do it with this much conviction, only a fool would get in the way.
Admittedly, this reviewer is just about reaching saturation point where big, impassioned rock is concerned right now. For starters, he's one of the few people out there who wouldn't care if Coldplay never made another record and the inevitable slew of pretenders to the crown is becoming more than nauseating at this stage. Still, there are a few dark horses running wild in the same field (Bristol's under-rated Undercut for one) and Kubb themselves - under their "Mother"s auspices - ought to grow up big, strong and handsome.
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