Three Trapped Tigers - Three Trapped Tigers EP

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5...according to our Ant on Thu 20 Nov, 2008.

A five track EP from Three Trapped Tigers has just given me a much needed adrenalin rush with its screeching guitars and big volume changes... Then a hugely infectious keyboard melody, cascading drums and incredibly complex arrangements. They really do sound like a clever bunch. There's bits of Trans Am, Battles, Trumans Water, The Skin Graft label, Laddio Bolocko all in there but their sound is genuinely unique. Constantly shifting in direction stradling both noisy and melodic rock templates with a light smattering of electro pop. Imagine if Squarepusher joined your favourite Math rock band they might sound like track 3. This may well appeal to folks that like 65 Days of Static's blend of Rock and electronics. Exciting stuff that deserves your attention. A very strong release indeed.

EP is the debut release by Three Trapped Tigers, an exciting new instrumental noisenik outfit from London. Three Trapped Tigers exhibit the precision of electronica, the raw intensity of rock music and the schizophrenic spontaneity of their electro-improv past. Not easily classifiable, but we reckon if you have even a passing interest in, Aphex Twin, Lightening Bolt, Squarepusher and Battles, you’ll find plenty to chew on here. The music veers wildly from noisy guitars to contemplative synths, frantic beats to ambient noise.
The five-track EP was recorded with the now-legendary Gordon Raphael, who produced the first two Strokes albums. Raphael caught the band playing at a house party and was instantly enamoured. “He offered to record us for free at his place in Berlin,” says Tiger Tom. “So we did, and that's what you hear now.” The band started out as an entirely improvisational duo comprising two of the three members – Tom Rogerson (piano, keyboards, voice) and Matt Calvert (guitar, synths, electronics). When the duo decided they needed more might, it was out with the laptop beats and in with drummer Adam Betts. They named themselves Three Trapped Tigers after the book by Cuban writer Cabrera Infante. It’s not, say the trio, meant to imply that they represent a tiger each. “I liked the book, I liked the name, and it seemed to make sense with the concept of the group – contained rage” says Tom. While they haven’t lost the spontaneity of their improvisational origins, they decided as a three-piece to start composing more formally. Tom meticulously scores parts on manuscript paper, a curious contrast to their electronic hearts. Soon, they’d written and recorded five songs, each named austerely after a number. Things have been moving pretty quickly for Three Trapped Tigers ever since – their third gig was at Reading festival. Their music is an assault on the senses, a tour de force of different moods and styles. It’s a marker of the musical talent in the band, but also composer Tom’s attempts to blend his catholic tastes. “I get inspiration from my iPod when it's on shuffle,” he says. “I love the fact it'll veer from the Locust to a choral piece by Britten and still manage to make perfect sense.”

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