Tigercub

Rock reimagined, rearranged & remade

After meeting at Brighton Uni in 2011, Jamie Hall (vocals, guitar) & James Allix (drums, percussion) formed what is possibly the UK’s finest export of what’s being dubbed the ‘new heavy’. Bold claim, I know. But after a few formative EPs, Tigercub hit home with their debut album, ‘Abstract Figures in the Dark’. This properly paved a path for them to hit widespread appeal, offering up heavy, grungey rock that still remained very accessible. Comparisons to the likes of QOTSA, as complimentary as they are, don’t quite hit the nail on the head. TC are simply their own entity.

Now, let’s go back to 2021, to my first gig since before all the Covid-19 lockdowns. Royal Blood in Newcastle at the O2 Academy. I distinctly remember TC opening with the title track to their second album ‘As Blue as Indigo’, which begins with an emotive, tension-laden guitar sequence before you get utterly sucker punched by the pummelling low end of Jimi Wheelwright (bass) and Bonham-esque drums of Allix. Their compelling songwriting had me hooked, which is a testament to the band in what is becoming an increasingly saturated, cookie cutter industry. ABAI goes into my list of the greatest albums ever made, with it’s painfully honest storytelling & their very own updated take on what 21st century rock music should sound like. Crafted in the midst of the quarantine hell, you can feel that struggle bleed through the album, something that is incredibly difficult to fabricate. Yet, it’s something that TC seems to excel at.

Forwarding to present day… After supporting bands like Chevelle & Porno For Pyros, as well as their own US headline tour, TC closed 2024 by gifting us some of their finest work to date… The Perfume Of Decay (Redux), gives us a new arrangement & re-imagined version of their 2023 album, but in a direction most unexpected. TC have become synonymous with darkness, with influences ranging from Led Zep, to Slipknot, to post-punk royalty in The Cure & Joy Division. However, almost oxymoronically, Decay’s cut-tooth guitar riffs are said to be inspired by Chopin’s Etudes. Perhaps that becomes fitting when you take a dive into Redux…

‘Swoon’ and ‘You’re My Dopamine’ were released toward the end of 2024, giving us a glimpse into the band’s latest project. New instrumentations create totally contrasting versions of what started as hard hitting, aggressive rock songs. But it has to be said, they sound effortlessly elegant & entirely at home. As Hall put, “sweet & salty popcorn tends to taste nicer than regular popcorn”, which I think sums that up really quite nicely.

Throwing the rulebook out & flipping everything on its head is much easier said than done, & not something that any band could achieve. Particularly when it comes to reimagining your own work in such a different light. But with TC, it sounds to have just naturally flowed. Allix brings a diligent proficiency to the table that just seems to glue everything together. Taking inspiration from rock n roll pioneer John Bonham, & his baton-carrier Dave Grohl, Allix’s usual style takes on a more laid back approach. A plethora of percussion adds to some gorgeous melodic passages, creating textures that haven’t featured before in TC’s work – but that I hope we hear again. That’s without mentioning the dexterity of Hall, whose unique softly-sung vocals shine in this format. Swapping his fuzz pedal for an acoustic 12 string shows that this trio aren’t some one trick pony – there’s something really special happening. It feels depreciative describing Wheelwright’s basslines as “complimentary”, but in all honesty, that’s exactly what these songs need. Wheelwright has this unteachable knack of getting context superbly, & we hear that all over this record.

I’m a big fan of a string section, as it seems to build this cinematic film score vibe, & the string arrangement on Redux does just that. The band have once again worked with the highly skilled Andrew Stuart Buttle, composing strings that are almost written like guitar parts, which creates this harmonious blend – bridging this new sound to it’s original.

With the full record set for release on the 28th of March 2025, the band now set their sights on London’s ‘Oslo’, where they’ll perform Redux live for the first, & I assume last, time. Taking away their wall of amps, it’ll be fascinating to see how they set up for a live setting, & to see who they add to their roster for the night.

Photography: @jackflynnphot