Ronny Tibbs genre blends like a champion.

Release Date: 29th October 2024

Label: Self released

Format: digital

Let’s cut to the chase. Having chanced upon What You Do, and being blown away by the dense, hard rocking groove of psychedelia, we were hooked. It might have not so much teased what to expect on Shorthand, but thrown a wild curve ball. The fuzzy thrill dished out in four and a half minutes may hang over from his early days in Rock quartet, The Satin Peaches, yet the last of five tracks on the EP, all roads lead here.

Rewinding back to Love Is (Just A Cruel Game) – a “lightning-in-a-bottle moment. The song came together incredibly quickly, with all the parts pulling together almost effortlessly” – there’s a gentle Beatles/McCartney easy feel; simple and unabashed with an earworm of a chorus/title and a cool little wind part dancing away amidst and by the close of the track, it’s as far from What You Do as you can imagine. The easy retro vibe takes charge.

The chamber poppiness manifests itself again on Too Late and the intention – he calls it “the delightful ulterior motive of spending quality time together, defying life’s oppressive demands, and making room for memories” – is being ticked off. If we could indulge, the feel is very much like our own local heroes, Stockport’s Blossoms. A track ten years in the making, one of his oldest songs finally sees the light of day.

Last month, Tibbs shared the emotion drenched Imagine My Eyes. The song, a heart-wrenching recollection of a difficult moment in his personal life – one where a close relationship imploded before him. “I found myself where I don;t belong, singing the same old song,” he not quite wallows in his own despair but is clearly finding an outlet for his heartache. The bright and breezy instrumentation belies the content. Maybe just as well or we could be in Smiths territory…

Lovely harmonies are at the heart of Little Beating Heart. Deep Hawley/Orbison-esque guitar twangs sit in the background against the lush textures. We could even be talking an under the radar track from the Blue Oyster Cult canon here. The thought that there’s a nice acoustic version buried in there and the ending creeps up suddenly. Almost like a false ending where the theme is picked up again (but isn’t).

However, the explosive What You Do leaves no doubt about finishing with a bang. Maybe it’s a gamble, throwing in a raw and dirty alternative. If you ain’t be grabbed so far, then prepare to be yanked from any reverie on a set that offers more than one path.

Here’s the mind altering What You Do:

Ronny Tibbs online: Instagram / Bandcamp

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