Album Review: Robbie & Mona - ‘Tusky’
The experimental duo’s mind-bending sophomore album begins dreamily before descending into glorious sonic chaos.
Hailing from Bristol, Robbie & Mona (the name derived from lead singer Ellie Gray’s dogs) drop their post-pandemic record ‘Tusky’, following their 2021 release ‘EW’. Like many of the best artists of the streaming age of music, it’s hard to fully pin down what genre Robbie & Mona fall into. Their music contains elements as wide ranging as art/ dream pop to Jazz, electronic and even industrial. Much like their lack of genre, upon looking at Tuskys collection of nine cuts, it may be initially hard to see the link between them all, based on the titles of the album and its tunes, which give little away. However, upon listening to the album you will quickly be absorbed into the dark but dreamy world that the duo build up before it is ripped apart by experimental madness.
The opening track ‘Sensation’ opens with a 40 second long wave of noise (certainly foreshadowing things to come) before Ellie begins with classic hazy dream pop/ shoegaze vocals in the opening verse. The hook then enters with a wave of added instrumentation and affects, stopping and reloading just to bring in even more elements. As anyone will tell you, opening cuts on LPs need to be memorable, and the beautiful harmonised singing on the word ‘sensation’ makes for just that. Naming a song ‘Sensation’ means that you therefore have to succeed in creating such a feeling in the listener, to which the vocals and intense musicianship certainly do. In particular, I love the subtle but clear keys that are in the mix, a motif that the duo return to throughout the album with great effect. Speaking of keys, the following ‘Flauneral’ begins with a lovely piano line, after which the Saxophone takes prominence. This track is probably best described as what would happen if Slowdive became a Jazz band (which is a weird thing to imagine out of context really), with the soft, overlapping mixed gendered vocals pairing nicely alongside the moody but unmistakably Jazzy instrumentation.
Up next is the incredibly dreamy ‘Sherry Prada’. Another highlight in the track-list, it relays themes of longing set amongst ethereal synths and beautiful vocals. The keys once again make an appearance on the back end of this track, sticking with you long after this mesmerising cut has finished. All of the elements I have mentioned thus far converge on the albums longest track ‘Tina’s Leather’, from the use of the Sax to the pauses in the music followed by a wave of sound. The refrain in Ellie’s voice on the line ‘Tina’s leather’ once again provides for a stunning moment in the LP.
The first half of this album really does feel like you're being washed away by the waves of otherworldly melodies that have been present thus far. Although still bringing in many different genres, there still feels like there's a consistent through-line in the shadowy mood of the music. The B-sides make for an even more chaotic experience however, constantly jumping between styles and ideas in a way that still somehow feels cohesive. ‘Clapback’ starts as a somewhat post-punky jam with the previously dreamy vocals moving into a more direct tone. But around the minute mark the song explodes into this insane Drum n Bass - rock hybrid. This is truly something unique. The only comparison I could think of is if Pendulum went in a gothic direction. Combining Drum n Bass with different genres has seen significant success recently through artists like Pinkpantheress and Piri but the moodiness of Clapback still sounds far different to even them, particularly when you add on the random mixes thrown in at the end. Certainly my personal favourite cut here, of which there is much competition. The landscape of the album is once again changed dramatically through the ludicrously noisy industrial tracks of ‘Dolphin’ and ‘Mildred’ the latter of which features Monika providing hip-hop style vocals to add more variety than what should even be possible at this point. The Bristolians round off the chaos with ‘Always Gonna be a Dead Man’ which nicely ties the album together, bringing back the features found in the first half of the album such as the Sax and sweet synths to combine with the sheer noise of the B-sides.
Fans of experimental music will undoubtedly enjoy this album. It combines an infinite amount of genres with supreme noise and wonderful vocals in an album that barely feels held together by the end as the listener struggles to fully comprehend what they have just heard. Despite the abundance of concepts present, Robbie & Monas pop sensibilities are not lost in the mix (at least in the first half of the album) and fans of classic dream and art pop will also certainly get a lot out of this album. If comparing the duo to both Slowdive and Pendulum on the same album doesn’t show how ridiculously versatile they are then I don't know what will.
Words by Josh Wilkey
