Tigercub may sing through the decaying stench of life, but anyone out and about on the town for the last six years knows the smell of death. Paco Rabanne’s 1 Million lays claim to the perfume of decay. Of the three-for-six trebles, the slick and sticky floors of a nightclub smelling of vomit and playing Gerry Cinnamon non-stop. Why’s it so hot in there? Really hear how the crowd shifts and your days of stomping around idly, dementedly, to the Circa Waves of tomorrow, come to a close. It is too much for the heart to handle and it turns you off clubbing. Instead a miserable pint in the slapped-up gentrification of a flash new pub which prides itself on history ripped from other areas crops up. Anyway, The Perfume of Decay reminds of all those nights lost to the town, and it is terrifying.
Mourn those last days out with Dirge, the grim defiance and stoner rock strengths build from the mood-setting instrumental that Tigercub uses to call out listeners. The Perfume of Decay is assured of its style and the heavier alternative rock it takes on throughout is a welcome release. Title track The Perfume of Decay places you right in the heart of those clubs, with your back against the wall as some new generation clatters in with blue pints and bored ideas. Take yourself outside and never look back. Hangups are one thing but nostalgia is another. Jamie Hall take a bow, the riffs and endless quality found on the likes of Show Me My Maker is the warm glow only the best and most considered of bands give off. Comfortable with their style, confident in it enveloping a listener, it is the best of both worlds, as Hannah Montana once proclaimed.
Play My Favourite Song continues this warm and experienced blend of fine guitar solos and elevated lyrics, brought about in style by the heavier instrumental work. There is still space for slower and methodical moments, often commanded by the bass and rhythm work of fellow Tigercub members James Alexander and James Wheelwright. Swoon hits out at the weight of the truth and soon finds itself spiralling through electronic explosions which give the best of Blur or Radiohead a run for their experimental money. Head spinning, consistencies whirring away, The Perfume of Decay takes its rightful place as a truly solid and experienced rock record. You’re My Dopamine is an intense reflection of lost love, or letting it slip through the fingers and out of the system.
Don’t let it happen. Paco Rabanne is bound to take their place. Slow it all down and understand the senses a little better with We’re a Long Time Gone. That we are, and while Tigercub has slogged away time and time again in perfecting their sound, they get very close to highlighting their worth and exceptional style here. The Perfume of Decay gives them the half-hour slot they need to bring around their style and the implementation of something new. They flirt with chamber pop on We’re a Long Time Gone, strip themselves of their stoner rock style and carry forth a tender sound which suits them more. Open and chilling in all the right ways, Tigercub do not fear change, and they show enough of that across this latest record.
