ROLE MODEL - Trinity Arts Centre - 4th September 2022

ROLE MODEL’s attitude to life seems to mirror his concerts; ride it like you stole it, play it loud, and stay out until the lights come on.

He swaggers like an all-American poster boy, but his English sensibility lends itself to his crowd. Tucker Pillsbury – the man behind the movement – is no gentleman, but no one’s ever begged for politeness at the altar of pop.

Pillsbury’s tongue lolls like a dog as he starts to sing ‘if jesus saves, she’s my type’, but his words bite like a hound from hell. He sings like a boy in trouble. A chain flies around his neck like it’s trying to rein him in. It fails; he moves like he’s chasing his own shadow.

‘life is funny’, ‘stripclub music’, and ‘rx’ all talk about God in the same open-mouthed breaths as they do shallow ex-girlfriends and the man-made heaven of Los Angeles. It’s in moments like this that his boyish adolescence – even now that he’s a man in his twenties – shows like club lights cutting through cigarette smoke.

His songs talk about sex, sin, and religion in the kind of detached way that today’s teenagers operate under. In an age where even the darkest trauma can be discussed openly so long as it’s accompanied with a wry smile, ROLE MODEL is a preacher.

There is nothing controversial about him, as much as his lyrics may suggest otherwise. His crowd is a mass of wide eyes and hand drawn posters, hanging on every word like his songs teach them about a life they didn’t know they could live.

He has enough tattoos to show off his past, but enough of his body still bare to suggest he’s got time to take the world by storm. His music is a love letter to skin-on-skin contact and all that comes with it, but he can still laugh at his own gratuity. His song ‘neverletyougo’ features his most iconic line, “respectfully, I think about you sexually”, and his humility makes it seems as if his girlfriend’s parents are in the crowd as he sings about her. He’s still desperate to make a good impression.