Seattle-based songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Rawb Middleton is back and has released two excellent EPs in the last year: Cracker From the Black Lagoon and The Cure for Tired Blood.
I have always said that Rawb–he went by “Rob” back in the day and has updated his nom de guerre to distinguish himself from other Robs on the internet—- is my favorite songwriter. I’ve listened closely to his entire catalog and wrote about him often in the fun years before 9/11. He doesn’t disappoint this time out. These new tunes are amazing beyond anything I could have imagined. Rawb wrote everything and performs all the instruments, like Prince always did.
When asked to describe these tunes after hearing them, the only words I came up with were, “deep, scary deep.” The lyrics are cutting, concise and vivid. His voice and delivery are as strong as ever. Instrumentally he’s able to find some grooves on songs which begin in the rock hemisphere but have elements of jazz and RnB worked in. Just listen to the two songs included here. They’re fantastic, and Rawb’s got more where they came from.
Rawb Middleton has a long history in Seattle music. He played drums in the popular late 80s/early 90s club act, Paisley Sin. He was one of the founders of Y Records, an indie label with a goodly number of quality releases in the mid-90s. He sang, played guitar and wrote most of the songs for Flake, a 90s rock combo with delightful melodic overtones. The two albums released by Flake, Box and Wild Cool Anger, are two of the finest unsung Seattle records of the 90s.
