THE LIST ON AP: Tigers And Tigers And Tigers, Oh My!

Does anybody remember 2007, when the underground was obsessed with wolves? You know, Wolf Parade, AIDS Wolf, Wolf Eyes and Wolfmother? Then Sarah Palin gave Alaskan hunters the okay to shoot wolf puppies in the head. Now according to the Chinese calendar, 2009 is the Year of the Ox. But according to the Rock calendar–and the CDs that show up at the AP Skyscraper–we are most certainly living in the year of the Tiger. Upon closer inspection, tigers come up frequently in our day-to-day existence. AP webmaster Rob Ortenzi plays the Duran Duran track "Tiger Tiger" like it were some kind of daily affirmation and I frequently fantasize about throwing Scott Heisel into a pit of famished tigers. Clearly, these bands must be onto something. (Note: You should know by now how much we love American psychobilly royalty, Tiger Army. Just tryin’ t’ save on bandwidth in the comments section.) —Jason Pettigrew








WHO RIDES THE TIGER

Like the animal they invoke, these L.A. dirtbags are pretty cod-slammed tough, with a butt-rock vibe and crunchy riffs that are fun to air-guitar to after a couple cups of NyQuil. Hell, they’re so cool, they bypassed including lyrics on their debut, Transylvania Baby, to make room for drawings a la Raymond Pettibon’s association with the mighty Black Flag. Seriously, your boyfriends will want to be them; your girlfriends will want to go back to their cave.
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// VIEW THE LIST HERE

MY AMERICA IS WATCHING TIGERS DIE

From the land of credit-card issuers (Delaware), this trio have a knack for long-division hardcore (not quite math-rock) that’s pretty blistering. Their frontman sings like his genitals are dangling precariously near a rotary fan blade set at top speed. Dudes are quite fierce, even if their moniker was calculated to 7.7 on the AP Earnest & Angry table. ">



MINIATURE TIGERS

Phoenix’s entry in the indie wuss-rock sweepstakes, the Miniature Tigers could stand to eat some Meat Lovers Pizza at 3 a.m. to beef themselves up. They probably wear ironic rock T-shirts like former AP editors, except nobody on our masthead (past or present) has been clever enough to come up with a breezy pop gem like ‘Cannibal Queen.’ Music for the sequel to Juno. ">


THE REPUBLIC TIGERS

Do people still use the term ‘college rock?’ It’s a fitting tag to describe the innocuous output of this Missouri-based band, whose perfunctory pop seems built for placement in TV dramas. They probably pull better-looking girls than, say, Tapes & Tapes… ">



ROMANCE OF YOUNG TIGERS

Much like the Serengeti, the options for amusement in Dayton, Ohio, are quite limited. Fortunately for us, this trio spent their time learning how to deftly balance ambient guitar textures (cf. Sigur Ros, Robert Fripp, My Bloody Valentine) with the kind of girth usually found within the Hydra Head stable. ">



HALF TIGER

From West London with love, an electro-pop outfit with a bit more potential than, oh, Hot Chip. Not particularly fierce: More like a tiger cub that looks at you with a cocked head before running away to explore the plain (or in their case, the pub).">




TIGERCITY

If this were 1986, MTV would be all over these guys like me in Christina Hendricks’ lingerie closet. But since most of you weren’t even born when British wuss-outfits like Johnny Hates Jazz or Danny Wilson were playing nightly to 18 music-industry bottom-feeders and one gender-confused fat guy with a complexion problem, don’t worry. Tigercity aren’t fierce at all, but they will make you forget about the latest Killers album. ">