Tigercub 'Repressed Semantics' (EP REVIEW)

Brighton rockers TIGERCUB may not have total respect for the rules of grammar but the irreverence they bring to that fuzzy roar they call their sound is exactly what makes Repressed Semantics so good. Refined to its rawest elements, but still smartly constructed, this is the sound of garage rock on steroids. But instead of using those big arms to crush your skull to powder, it just wants to put one round your shoulder and drink beer to the impassioned roar of a fuzz pedal until the sun comes up.

‘Pictures of You’ sounds innocent and gentle as it eases the record into life, but this fairly quickly gives way to a crash of fuzzed-out guitar – although impressively this doesn’t mean that all subtlety goes out of the window, with light and shade still there, just a lot bigger. ‘Antiseptic’ raises the temperature a bit, squalling through the swampy southern dirt on the back of a fine riff, and with the vocals backed down a bit in the mix it’s easy to lose yourself in the hurricane. Contrastingly, ‘Rich Boy’ is quintessentially English, with frontman Jamie Hall bitterly singing about a rich boy “dressing like a poor boy” over a thunderous bassline. This is Cameron’s Britain!

But would you really expect reserve from a band whose joyful piece-de-resistance is called ‘Bittersweet Motherfucker’? Harking back to the days of British rock music when Feeder were at their best and everything was fresh, vital and exciting – or is this reviewer just showing his early-teen naivety? – it is big, bold and dangerously listenable. The EP wraps up with almost as deceiving a cut as the opener. ‘The End’ starts out with just a voice and an acoustic guitar, but grows layers and layers until it roars the record to a fitting, well, end.

Words - Joe Ponting

Repressed Semantics is released November 27th on Venn Records

Tigercub official