By: Aaron Pickford
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:
11/08/2012
Label: The Ghost Is Clear Records
‘Descender’ brings this
disorderly commotion to a close and having been subjected to feelings of
violent agitation for the best part of 40 minutes, I am left feeling gobsmacked
and amazed by the furious disturbance Tigon have caused. Despite this great noise of
confusion, I can’t help break into tumultuous applause and congratulate Tigon for this truly tyrannous
and awe-inspiring album. I too am left beaming with an Infinite
Grin!
‘Infinite Teeth CD//DD//LP track listing
1)
The Archivist (3:48)
2)
The Great Machine (4:05)
3)
Whale Maker (2:34)
4)
Infinite Grin (1:44)
5)
Tortoise Goes To Burning Man (5:52)
6)
Infinite Grin (4:44)
7)
Plague Apparatus (2:09)
8)
Prophetess (7:53)
9)
Descender (5:29)
Tigon is:
Brian
| Guitar
Jon
| Guitar
Joe
| Drums
Doc
| Bass
Clint
| Vocals
The Review:
It
has been said that Noise rock is an outgrowth or offshoot of punk, as Thurston
Moore of legendary band, Sonic Youth said ‘Noise has taken the place of punk rock.
People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream
culture’. http://www.spin.com/#articles/art-noise This
is the vibe that I get from Tigon, a band who seem to abandon all the clichés and
unanimity of the stereotypical iconography of rock, instead playing a
unique blend of malevolent dissonant music which I take
a huge amount of pleasure in presenting to you, here at The Sludgelord.
Tigon opens
things up with ‘The Archivist’, a song with a
loop of 4 notes repeated by guitar, the feedback kicks in and we're met
with a huge bass sound. This is wonderfully abrasive
noise rock, discordant and angry, with duelling guitars and fantastic
drumming holding it all together. Think Part Chimp,
with it’s off kilter time changes, however the song has so much variety packed
into one song and vocally it’s amazing too. Tigon slow things
down with arpeggiated guitar notes and a trade mark killer noise rock bass
line, a la Shellac. Then we’re hit with a
thunderous sludgy riff, sounding like the best Post Metal band you never heard, ‘The
Archivist’ is certainly a song that has enduring value
and is the perfect way to kick off the album. ‘The Great Machine’ is
all about a driving bass, with the guitars creating a discordant noise,
producing a natural harmonic tone which rings out, this is used to good effect
and adds to the din they’re obviously trying to create, again in this song,
there is just so much going on. Tigon are indeed a great machine
because with the live sounding vibe to the album, they sound note
perfect. Again perhaps without the intention, I’m sure? There are
nods to the sound of Shellac. Whilst
this track is not as heavy at ‘The Archivist’ in terms of
riffs, the shouted backing vocals add weight to the track and there are moments
when the band crank it up and this is towards the end of the track. Vocally,
Clint is a monster and he has one of those voices who sounds familiar and yet,
you can’t place him. Atonality or dissonance would be a perfect
description of what we are presented with, it is unconventional music, however
it still does feel hooky, absorbing and engages you as the listener.
‘Whale
Maker’ incorporates distorted bass and
an opening clean guitar sound which seems to deliberately add a lack of
harmony or flow; however it builds tension, as the two sounds clash from the
duelling disharmonious elements of bass and guitar. Then the penny
drops, whilst the vocalist isn’t a sound like, the swagger and balls of the
performance feels like David Yow of The Jesus Lizard, as he
asks us, “Do you feel safe? Do
you fit in? Do you believe? Do you fit in? Do you believe?” It’s
like Clint is toying with us. Guitars play with reckless
abandonment, with intricate neat little flourishes of hammer on and pull offs,
until the ferocious blast of sludge riffs smash you in the pit of your stomach
and then we’re back to the dense cacophony or maelstrom of the opening, with
the distorted bass and ponderous disharmony. Holy crap this song is
just brilliant, it’s furious and ugly and the lack of agreement or consistency
within the elements of the music, gives it a jarring audible harshness which is
just devastating. ‘Infinite Grin’ with
its natural harmonics in a repeated phrase with bass, feels like a brief
interval or interlude, but continues with the unmelodious feel of the album.
‘Tortoise
Goes to Burning Man’ is off kilter, unconventional
and off beat, seemingly using demented arpeggios and riffs to invoke a left of
centre feel. The track is lacking in order and is just
abhorrent to methodical arrangement, the track induces a feeling of motion
sickness, and it’s like poison infecting you or a conflict between your senses
that will have you reaching for the Ipecac in order to remedy the feelings of
dizziness, fatigue and nausea. There seems to be a strong influence
of much underrated and oft over looked band Theory of Ruin,
a band led by Alex Newport also of Fudge Tunnel, however
it remain totally original, accentuated by the harmonious female vocal. When
you think of this track, you think Amphetamine Reptile and just about any
artist they have released music by over the years. ‘Infinite Teeth’ I
would go so far as to say that this track sounds a lot like ‘Strap It On’ era Helmet or
the underappreciated New York band Barkmarket (check them
out) but remains deeply ingrained in the noise rock vain, with
minimalist sound based around repetitive driving rhythms’ of the bass and
guitar. This track is probably as close to conventional as you’re
going to get and yet Tigon accentuate
the song with subtle nuances to give a quirky, sudden sharp turn or twist
to remind you that this band are the masters of the unconventional.
Nonconformist and idiosyncratic in their desire to produce fresh unusual and
innovative music. ‘Plague Apparatus’ with
its fantastic burst of drums is a 2 minute din of crude loud, confused
noise, continuing the tumultuous noisy clamour. This is a fast and
frenetic song which is just insanely awe inspiring
All
I can say about ‘Prophetess’ is that
it is a magnificently epic, think the grandness of your favourite Post Metal
Sludge band, think Old Man’s Gloom or A Storm of Light, man this is titanic! The riffs
are monstrous and this is the longest and most spine chillingly heavy song of
the record. Everything on this track sounds huge, a colossus beast,
it is mouth watering, with elements of blackened screams that twists like a
knife, inflicting untold pain. It’s as if the band has thrown out
the rule book of everything which encapsulated the first 2/3rds of the album,
with wanton abandonment. They slow things right down with
atmospheric tones and this appears to be the band at their most reflective with
the spoken vocals giving it an emotional and introspective flavour. This
for me is easily the coupe de grace of the album and exhibits that Tigon incorporate
many influences to their music and this is the thing that excites me about this
band, they truly are a brilliant and with this song they have written one of,
if not the best song of the year. As the title suggests, this band
are sending a message of divine inspiration and if there truly is a god, this
album should propel them into the big leagues.
‘Descender’ brings
this disorderly commotion to a close and having been subjected to feelings of
violent agitation for the best part of 40 minutes, I am left feeling gobsmacked
and amazed by the furious disturbance Tigon have caused. Despite
this great noise of confusion, I can’t help break into tumultuous applause and
congratulate Tigon for
this truly tyrannous and awe-inspiring album. I too am left beaming
with an Infinite Grin!
You
can order the album here.
Band info: Official Site |
Bandcamp
| Facebook
