Artist: Tigercats
Title: Isle of Dogs
Format: Vinyl LP
Cat#: Fika015
Release date: 9th April 2012
Bandcamp | Spotify
With 11 fantastically catchy, heartfelt and infectious songs, the band are well in to their stride, demonstrating an enthusiastic confidence and a fun-loving charisma.
Hereʼs a bit of history: Tigercatsʼ singer Duncan played in Esiotrot until suddenly he didn't, and after a respectful interval of ambling around for 18 months he asked his brother Giles to join on bass in a new band.
The name Tigercats appeared out of the air and was soon followed by Jonny on drums, Stefan on guitar and Laura on keyboard.
Tigercats have released three singles on Haircut and WeePop! records that have been mostly compared to Orange Juice and Hefner, with the Wave Pictures and Violent Femmes close behind. Steve Lamacq said their longest ever song, "Banned at the Troxy" was "a great little single" and Huw Stephens said "it reminds me of Los Campesinos that, and thatʼs a very very very good thing". This is of course excellent, and perhaps someone will pick up on their love of Chic eventually.
Tigercats have been lucky enough to play some great shows with Allo Darlin, the Wave Pictures, the Lovely Eggs, Dum Dum Girls, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Omi Palone. After one show, Darren Hayman kindly said, "Incidentally, Tigercats are really good. Not [just] in that way that most people say bands are good, but good in a way that means something.." Which is ideal, really.
Following well attended shows in February supporting Allo Darlinʼ and at London Popfest, Tigercats are playing the following:
16 Mar#Ramsgate, Caboose Cafe (headline show)
21 Mar#Manchester, The Castle Hotel w/ Shrag
22 Mar# London, Kibo Kift at Somerset House (headline show)
29 Mar# Brighton, Horse & Groom (headline show)
30 Mar# London, Power Lunches - Isle of Dogs album launch, supported by Omi Palone, Fever Dream & Robert Rotifer w/ Allo Darlin' and Moustache of Insanity DJ's
Tigercats are a very, very good band. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band.
The Sunday Times review of Isle of Dogs
Lauren Lavern, BBC 6 Music on Full Moon Reggae Party
Tigercats are that rarest of bands, an indie-pop act you can actually dance to..
neonfiller.com: ”top ten bands to watch out for in 2012″
it reminds me of Los Campesinos that, and that’s a very very very good thing
as an indie-pop album goes this is as good as it gets. It’s teaming with radio friendly, infectious hooks, [and] the freshest sounds I’ve heard for some time from a UK act. Plus, as we said when we touted them as one to watch this year, they are an indie pop band you can dance to. That’s actually rarer than you’d think.
Neonfiller.com’s 10/10 review of Isle of Dogs
‘Isle of Dogs’ is an album to be adored. Superbly crafted, original and soul-tingly, Tigercats can bring who they want to the party. Just make sure you have a ticket.
Clickmusic.com’s 5/5 review of Isle of Dogs
there’s something unconsciously authentic about Tigercats... this could be a band to listen to obsessively
drownedinsound.com's review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats have written a record that is full of personality, vitality, and even youthful rebellion, the sort of record that very well might reinvigorate indie pop
YPOIW’s 9/10 review of Isle of Dogs
this superbly crafted debut album… [features] bouncy Orange Juice-style dance-pop, with boy-girl vocals, bustling percussion and an endearing sense of wonder. Along with recent tourmatesAllo Darlin’, Tigercats are continuing to find a place for heart-on-sleeve indie pop that defies shifting fashions.
eMusic.com review of Isle of Dogs
Maybe the unique thing about Tigercats is that they are not just making great indie pop that catches your attention immediately because it’s hugely vibrant and captivating, but that the band is also telling stories with every chord they’re playing and every note their voices sing.
It’s All Happening’s review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats are one of those bands who live and breathe their music… when their hormones take control they produce some of finest nuggets of indiepop since Allo Darlin’ first appeared on the scene.
MusicOMH.com’s 4 star review of Isle of Dogs
Tigercats [are] a heap of fun, especially as a live act. Barrett yaks and yelps his way through a rattling run of floorshakers, among which the opener, the deeply cynical, highly topical ‘Coffin For The Isle Of Dogs’, takes its half-spoken, half-sung, passionate sloganeering lead from Spearmint’s epic Sweeping The Nation.
For Folk’s Sake review of Isle of Dogs
a great little single
Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music on Banned at the Troxy
Incidentally, Tigercats are really good. Not in that way that most people say bands are good, but good in a way that means something. I mean to say, they can actually play their instruments and everything & the words make you feel the way you’re supposed to.
Without pose, additives or preservatives, Tigercats play a fresh, freestyle indie pop which is less obvious than it looks. It’s these types of offerings that make the Primavera Club festival so special. Bravo for that!
Their songs betray no alterior motives of forced cool, only an enthusiastic young band in love with making songs. Excellent, alive, and bright.
What Tigercats has come up with is a manifesto for what it means to be alive, to be in London and to be living life… if I was 16 right now I’d think this album was sent to save my life.
They made a joyous noise and I just wanted to dance.
Comprised of former members of Esiotrot and Hexicon, and with EP tracks entitled Konny Huck and Stevie Nicks, there’s no cloak and dagger going on here. They’re a studied version of indiepop; the product of 30 years of jangly guitars and heartfelt post-punk. Slices of Orange Juice, Hefner and Violent Femmes blend to make a sound that, despite the band’s infancy, is considered, confident and utterly infectious.
Their straightforward guitar pop perfects the art of tight, compact melodies.
TIGERCATS write songs about Stevie Nicks and Whitechapel, all delivered atop a cloud of shimmering dream rock. Drums twist and guitars bloom like fireworks, whilst a plaintive vocal sounding eerily like Pete Shelley underpins their sound.
this single could only be any better if it came with free drugs cellotaped to the cover.
Leeds Music Scene Review of Easter Island
Tigercats’ debut LP Isle Of Dogs (or I Love Dogs as it is known in my house) is one of those rare albums that on first listen clears a space inside your brain and makes itself comfy because it knows it’s going to be sticking around for quite a while. Neon Fillerwebsite recently gave the record 10/10; the only other album they have ever awarded a perfect score to is London Calling, and despite the 35 year gap, the difference in production values and the fact that one was by one of the biggest bands in the world and the other by a small indie outfit led by the bloke from Esiotrot, the two are comparable; both are a vital slice of life in the capital with not a single wasted second, so vivid you can almost smell the petrol fumes
Following on from their great (and brilliantly timely) Konny Hucksingle, the band are back with a new release that was apparently only finished up last week. Gone are the days when you waited months for a release to be sorted out, now they are with us a few days after a band finishes them. Anyway, Easter Island doesn’t really deviate from what the standard set by Huck, which is fine as the band are sounding increasingly assured in what they are doing.
Tigercats are the product of mating Hexicon with Esiotrot; the resultant sound is a bastardised Bo Diddley beat chained to an indiepop set up (part Orange Juice, part Hefner). They have songs about “Konny Huck” and Stevie Nicks, which should just sound sweet but have an angry intensity and buzzing loudness that makes them not only catchy but a lot more interesting.
A brand new band featuring members of Esiotrot and Hexicon, east London’s Tigercats reimagine The Wave Pictures and Violent Femmes as spiky, infectious post-punk anti-heroes. We haven’t heard a new band sound this perfectly-formed for quite some time