Pissing off Scenesters Since 1995
Tiger Army
Music from Regions Beyond
Hellcat
You sure can’t accuse Tiger Army of falling into the psychobilly stereotype. Not a single one of their four records has sounded alike, and their latest effort, “Music From Regions Beyond,” is the most unusual Tiger Army record yet. Blending traditional punk, psycho thump, and pop, Tiger Army songwriter and ringleader Nick 13 has created a record that brutally pounds one second, and can make fans dance the next.
The record opens with the usual intro track and then flows into an AFI-tinged punk romp that strays almost into hardcore. Nick quickly puts the kibosh on the punk with the twangy ballad “Afterworld” that sounds like most of the slower temp tracks off of their last record. Then things get strange. “Forever Fades Away,” “Lunatone,” and “As The Cold Rain Falls” have that tap tap tap cymbal noise found so frequently on records like Franz Ferdinand. Hell, the latter song comes off like a rockabilly New Order. At first I cried, but the more I listen to the record, the cooler it sounds. “Music From Regions Beyond” is filled with ’80s nuances and Nick’s voice works so well with the pop tracks you can’t help but give the guy credit for branching out.
The rest of the record is split between the regular psychobilly fare, and softer rockabilly tracks. At times it sounds as if the bass player is switching from an upright to an electric bass, but that could just be the drastic style difference between Jeff Roffredo and former Tiger Army bassist Geoff Kresge. To top it off, there’s a song sung entirely in Spanish. Tiger Army might be trying too much with this record, but they never stretch themselves thin. As long as they keep their music fresh, the fans will keep listening—Tiger Army never dies.
Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks
