Thursday, July 23, 2009

Tigon - 7" EP





















This is not the band's first release. But I found it fitting to open up this blog with the album I'm currently listening to. This is a three song EP and opens up with a song called Proud Americans. The first 35 seconds of the song leave one thinking this is just a run of the mill punk band with hardcore vocals. After this the rhythm changes up several times. It's not until around 2:20 into the song that we realize these guys can really slow it down. It is a very sludge rock sounding song, not unlike the Melvins but with a different rhythmic element to it. It ends with a feedback loop which bleeds into the next song.

The second song is called Monarch, which is actually a remake of a previous song. This is definitely where I notice the better quality of recording, not amongst the other songs but from their last album. In their prior album it was hard to distinguish between the two guitars. But A/Bing this to the old version of the song, one can really hear both parts crystal clear now.

Monarch opens with a riff in 6/8 and in the second bar quickly shifts to 5/8. Wow, I love this song already. The rhythm guitar comes in with some real jazzy dissonant chords backing up the riff. Soon the guitars begin to harmonize the riff in a very interesting way. Around 57 seconds it switches gears to a dissonant ascending phrase. This builds up a lot of tension and makes a return later in the song. Between this phrase and the repeat there is a very jammy Refused sounding section. The song closes with a very dark ethereal riff that bleeds into a chromatic guitar line. The singer ends the song with the statement, "Everybody, are you feeling alone tonight?"

The closer of the EP is called Teenage Blackhole. It starts off with a few dissonant chords in 5/4. In the second bar the first riff of the song is played. It is in 4/4 but is so obscure that it makes one go back just to check. It's a very short song clocking at 1:04. I don't enjoy this one quite as much as Monarch but it's still great.

My overall feel of this album leaves me feeling the same about their first album. That is Mr. Howell's band Longtooth was much more inventive and entertaining. I personally wish they would have stayed together, but that's just how the cookie crumbles. Knudson goes from Botch to Minus the Bear, Howell goes from Longtooth to Tigon.

Anyway, check out Tigon's 7" EP. It definitely worth checking out if you like bands like: The Melvins, Akimbo, Some Girls, Botch, etc...

Tigon - 7"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RGHGI053


More about the band:

Tigon is an independent, abrasive, punk band from San Francisco. The lead guitarist, Jon Howell, does the best mathy riffing since Dave Knudson (previously of Botch now of Minus the Bear). To hear this kind of riffage, check out: www.myspace.com/thelongtoothcollective

Jon majored in classical guitar. Most of the songs focus on the talents and writing of this young and ambitious guitarist. I'm sure that the other members most likely have a say in the writing process. But for the most part it seems like he is the primary song writer.

The vocals are good but very secondary and rhythmic. I could get more into them if I had the lyrics I think. The vocalist purely screams in a Some Girls kind of style. He does have his own voice, it's not quite the Wes Eisold (singer of Some Girls) tone. Nor would I want it to be, although I like Wes Eisold's voice better. The comparison was simply made because they are very non-melodic screams. At times he does a spoken word phrases. I liked the singer, Paul Isham, of Howell's previous band Longtooth a lot more and wish they would have kept collaborating.

2 comments:

  1. yes yes yes yes yes yes. i like longooth a lot also. thank you for the kind words baby

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  2. don't forget curse of the zero

    http://www.myspace.com/curseofthezero

    I didn't order any lotion

    ReplyDelete