Laura Brown
TIGERCUB
SHARE NEW SINGLE ‘MEMORY BOY’
DEBUT ALBUM ‘ABSTRACT FIGURES IN THE DARK’ OUT NOVEMBER 11TH VIA ALCOPOP RECORDS
“One of Brighton’s most promising up-and-coming bands.” Crack
“A voice dripping with feeling.” The Guardian
“Ask any band circuiting Brighton’s venues and forging their own rep from the seaside – they’ll cite Tigercub as the glue to the scene.” DIY
“Considered a righteous DIY inspiration taking risks and gleefully operating out-with the mainstream.” Clash
Prior to the release of their anticipated debut album, Brighton based noise-rockers Tigercub have shared their brand new single ‘Memory Boy’. Dork called it a “vital new track for anyone frustrated with the news” as it voices the bands frustrations with treatment of refugees and misrepresentation in the media.
“I wrote this when the refugee crisis was all over the news,” explains frontman Jamie Hall. “I had this sickness in my stomach from all the suburban right-wingers out there were complaining that the country was ‘full’ amongst other things almost in complete disregard that these people were fleeing from persecution. There were even politicians using it to serve their own political agenda.
I just felt so frustrated and totally unrepresented – so the lyrics here represent this weird conversation I’m having with myself internally, a cocktail of disgust, reasoning and despair… Trying to make sense of what I’m seeing in real time.
They say all of your best comebacks come to you 2hrs after the argument has finished but this song shoots from the hip with a burst of aggression and absolutely zero restraint. In hindsight I could have made the words more linear and coherent but it just wouldn’t feel as urgent, and wouldn’t truly represent how emotionally scattered my life is becoming.”
This record wears that awareness like a reflection from a broken mirror. “Straddling ignorance and apathy of the absolute mess in and around our heads – and the uncontrollable urge to stand up and scream about it” says drummer James Allix. Tigercub, a band sonically known for capturing an organic sound within a room, have taken strides forward to push the walls of their comfort zone; AFITD sees the band experimenting with drum loops, the addition of synths and even a full choir.
Recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Alex Newport (At The Drive In, Death Cab for Cutie, Melvins, Pissed Jeans) at Brighton Electric Studios and mastered by John Greenham (Death Grips, Weaves), the highly anticipated debut album follows Tigercub’s widely acclaimed EP, Repressed Semantics. The much-loved EP was released via VENN Records last year, and lead track, ‘Pictures Of You,’ saw praise from the likes of Annie Mac and Daniel P. Carter on their respective BBC Radio 1 shows, as well as Radio X, Amazing Radio, The Guardian, NME, Crack, DIY and more.
Tigercub spent their formative years touring, fine-tuning their now renowned raucous live show and sharing the bill with acts such as Dilly Dally, Royal Blood, Vant, Blood Red Shoes and The Bronx. The band have nearly performed in every tour-able city the United Kingdom has to offer. January 2017 will see Tigercub perform alongside The Fall, Hookworms & Kagoule, with plenty of exciting announcements to follow.
The Brighton based trio, Jamie Hall (lead vocals and guitar), Jimi Wheelwright (backing vocals and bass) and James Allix (drums) formed in 2013, playing a slew of shows and garnering the attention of Tom Dalgety and Ben Hampson, who produced a handful of songs (‘Centrefold’, ‘Blue Blood’, ‘Trendsetter’, ‘Little Rope’).
In December 2014, Tigercub released Centrefold 7” (via Blood Red Shoes’ label, Jazz Life) and received critical acclaim from the likes of NME, Clash Music and BBC Radio 1 declaring, “this is the start of something.” Fan Mike Kerr of Royal Blood included Tigercub as his ‘Band Crush’ in NME.
The title of this unmissable album hints at Jamie Hall’s intense lyrical themes that are ultimately an enormous part of what makes AFITD such a strong debut. The juxtaposition of heavy, brash and assured instrumentation with the consuming vulnerability of Jamie’s lyrics results in a powerful collision of sound and words.
Jamie says: “Abstract Figures in the Dark is the soundtrack as we pass through the event horizon and float helplessly toward the blackhole…we are all Schrodinger’s Cat, trapped between life and death, trapped between physical and digital, trapped between paradigms trying to find meaning in a world our parents already destroyed. Waiting desperately to be observed so that our fate can be decided. God is dead and we’ve been left to dwell in our own personal paradox.
“I was born out of the wreckage of a failed marriage. I am my own first world problem. I grew up with abnormalities both physically and mentally in an ex-mining town in northern England and it’s simultaneously my biggest regret and my glowing pride.
“We’re so fucking bored of rock music and scared that punk is becoming its own version of conservatism. It just doesn’t feel relevant anymore. We wanted to make a record for the 21st Century. This album marks the start of our journey outside the box. Don’t get me started on politics.”
TRACKLISTING
Burning Effigies
Memory Boy
Omen
Migraine
Can You Hear Me (Interlude)
Up In Smoke
The Golden Ratio
Control
Serial Killer
By Design
Abstract Figures In The Dark
Black Tides
TOUR DATES
5 Nov: Reading, UK – Alcopop 10th Birthday @ Oakford Social Club [FREE]*
06 Nov: Oxford, UK – Bullingdon
07 Nov: Nottingham, UK – Bodega
08 Nov: Worcester, UK – Marrs Bar
09 Nov: Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
11 Nov: Newcastle, UK – Think Tank
12 Nov: Glasgow, UK – The Garage (Attic)
14 Nov: Leicester, UK – Cookie
15 Nov: Norwich , UK – Epic Studios
16 Nov: London, UK – Electrowerkz
17 Nov: Exeter, UK – Cavern
18 Nov: Southampton, UK – Joiners
21 Liverpool, UK – Arts Club^
28 Jan: London, UK – Kentish Town Forum**
*w/ Youth Man
^w/ The Fall, Eagulls, Hookworms
**w/ The Fall, Future Of The Left, Hookworms, Goat Girl
Full details HERE.
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