INTERVIEW WITH ENGLISH GRUNGE ROCKERS TIGERCUB
Meet Brighton-formed English Rock power trio TIGERCUB. The band comprises Jamie Stephen Hall (vocals and lead guitar), James Allix (drums), and Jimi Wheelwright (bass) and their loud, brash, and energetic sound. It’s a punch of grungy distorted rock that has them gaining fans from all over, including those of the famous rock-star kind… like Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam fame. I asked a few questions of frontman Jamie, which you can read below.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Can you talk about Tigercub’s origin story? How did the band come together?
TIGERCUB: Tigercub met in Brighton on the south coast of England whilst studying at The University of Sussex. We all bonded over a love of Jeff Buckley, The Dandy Warhols, and Nirvana and just went from there
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: First, I want to talk about your new song “Show Me My Maker” and the inspiration and songwriting process? Also, how did the remix with Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam come about?
TIGERCUB: I’m inspired by a lot of classical music and that always finds its way into my writing, this song was inspired by Led Zeppelin and Rage against the Machine I wanted to write a banger.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: How excited are you guys for your upcoming Belasco show in Los Angeles? How did the opener spot for Porno For Pyros come to you guys?
TIGERCUB: SO excited we are so star struck and honoured to be opening for Porno for Pyros especially on home turf!
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Do you have a favorite Porno For Pyros song?
TIGERCUB: I love all their records, but Pets and Cursed Female are just so iconic it’s hard not to go to them first, I also love Tahitian Moon.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What three words would you use to describe your band and its signature sound?
TIGERCUB: Big. little. Loud
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: And, lastly, what's next on the horizon for Tigercub?
TIGERCUB: After the PFP we are sxsw. Then we head back to Blighty for a breather and it’s off to the states again for a headline show in May!
You can catch Tigercub out now on tour and stream “Show Me My Maker (Remix)”.
NOTHING BUT THIEVES RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM ‘DEAD CLUB CITY’
ALBUM REVIEW: NOTHING BUT THIEVES RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM “DEAD CLUB CITY”
“Dirty English sky is washing me away.”
“Tomorrow Is Closed” | Dead Club City
From the moment you hear the first few notes play from Dead Club City, the new album from English Rockers Nothing But Thieves. You know two things, this is not your standard Nothing But Thieves musical fare, and the band has boldly dipped their toes into the world of concept albums. So this is going to be a wild ride, and it is. If you haven't heard of Nothing But Thieves, they are a quintet hailing from Southend, U.K. comprising Conor Mason (vocals, guitar), Joe Langridge-Brown (guitars), Dominic Craik (guitars, keyboard), Philip Blake (bass), and James Price (drums). In their ten years, they have amassed quite the fanbase and following, including a #1 alternative radio single here in America with Trip Switch. Now the band is on the fourth studio album Dead Club City a blistering venture into an unknown world filled with narratives, characters, and concepts all inspired by the band's struggles with the pandemic, the lockdown, and life in this new world we live in. NBT has always had a natural knack for raw honesty and extrospection (and introspection in some cases) in their lyrics. So, an album like Dead City Club truly allows them to explore and hone in on those skills.
The album opener, Welcome To The DCC (aptly titled, I might add), quickly puts the listener within the world of the DCC. Frontman Conor Masons' honeyed falsetto greets you with the lyric Welcome To The DCC repeated. All set amongst an atmospheric soundscape of textured tones and synths. The crunchy layered guitars are all very 80s inspired and hard-hitting. The album segues into the second track, the anthemic single Overcome, a song filled with blissful synths, punchy basslines, and rockier guitars. Lyrically, it's one of few tracks that lean hopeful in tone and messaging. NBTs' grit is still very apparent throughout the record as well. It's not something they lost or even shied away from. It is all over tracks like Tomorrow Is Closed, City Haunts, and Members Only. The latter two have a sludgier stomp-rock vibe to them. There are a few restrained moments on the record, like the reflective love letter Green Eyes:: Siena and the slinky R&B-influenced confessional Talking To Myself. The band also leans fully into pop and electronic music on the dance-pop number Foreign Language. Dead Club City closes on a high note with the electric and hard-rock number Pop The Balloon. It is loud, brash, and so rock and roll. 
NOTHING BUT THIEVES - Dead Club City Album Cover
While Nothing But Thieves has been a band for ten years now. This fourth record clearly shows why they are one of the U.K.s most exciting Rock acts and live shows. Dead Club City demonstrates Nothing But Thieves' progression as a band and their skill in experimentation. It has not steered them wrong so far. While the concept album can quickly go bad, even comical for so many artists, for Nothing But Thieves, it didn't. It could be the overall evasiveness and abstract nature of what is the inner realm of the Dead Club City. Which comes across in a more choose-your-own-adventure manner, even more so with the attached visuals. Then there is the tight production from band member Dominic Craik and the on-point vocals from Conor Mason. Whatever it is that gelled together at the right time, Nothing But Thieves has easily put out one of my favorite albums of this year.
You can stream Nothing But Thieves' Dead Club City, which is out now on all DSPs, by clicking here.
Welcome to the DCC
Overcome
Tomorrow Is Closed
Keeping You Around
City Haunts
Do You Love Me Yet?
Members Only
Green Eyes :: Siena
Foreign Language
Talking To Myself
Pop The Balloon
THE DARKNESS // "HEART EXPLODES" - SINGLE REVIEW
English Rock band The Darkness drop new single "Heart Explodes". The song is off the bands' upcoming concept record Easter is Cancelled. The album is due out October 4th the band will tour the United States in 2020, and are currently opening up for Ed Sheeran in the UK for a string of dates.
“It’s about the despair of change. Having to reappraise your life and what you're holding on to. It’s like that feeling when you just want to go for a swim and keep going. Wanting to be enveloped by something that will gradually pull you down. If you really, really want to survive that process, you can. We've all been there - people who say they haven't are lying.”
- Justin Hawkins
"Heart Explodes" finds the band in excellent form, lead singer Justin Hawkins well known and often used falsetto is not overdone on the track. From the first hit of the drums that anchor the entire song, which seems to ride back and forth between ballad and mid-tempo rock number. The abundance of emotion is fully present with every guitar stroke and lyric sung. The Darkness has become known for their unique blend of opera rock this single isn't any different, as Folk-rock elements, even a banjo, can be heard well within the mix of instruments on the song. It's a tune essentially about being caught between the apathy and wanting to change. Something that is often told but on "Heart Explodes", The Darkness dig into what they are good at to find a novel approach to this subject matter.
You watch the lyric video for "Heart Explodes" below...
Until then
Brittney x
