Album Review: Tigers Jaw - 'Lost On You'
Returning for their first full-length album in 5 years, Tigers Jaw, a band that needs absolutely zero introduction, bare all in their brilliantly prudent new album ‘Lost On You’.
Scranton, Pennsylvania's Tigers Jaw are a band that has evolved from stepping stone to stepping stone; every project, be it a single, EP, or LP, has had a consistent sense of belonging to where the band were at the time. The self-titled album was so effective and cutting to fans because at the time, very few had taken such an archaic and sporadic sound and managed to mould in to a meaningful and emotionally pressing emo album. as their career progressed albums like ’Two Worlds’ and ’Charmer’ kept the lightning in a bottle that they captured during the explosion of the self-titled album and continued to create a more refined yet still raw and open sound, blending more studio time and expertise with a more mature and individual tone behind the vocals to create a new sound, and with their all new love letter ‘Lost On You’, this cycle of progression has continued, leading to one of their most brilliant albums to date, blending the acoustic chaos an d dual vocals of the first album with the brilliance and craftsmanship of their later projects. This album is refreshing and familiar, but most of all, it’s Tigers Jaw at their best.
The front half of the album contains elegant brilliance, contained in tracks like ‘It’s Ok’, ‘Anxious Blade’ and one of the feature singles, ‘Primary Colours’, the latter of which is arguably the greatest vocal performance from the band to date. the duality of notation between vocalists Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins creates this brilliantly intertwined sound scape, with the vocal points acting as the highest and lowest areas of the tracks, the instrumental takes place within the walls of these vocal pieces to create a well packaged and dynamic track that will likely be added to the band’s setlist as well as the fans’ playlists. This elegance also gives way to harsher, more abrasive tracks at times, with power chords and drum fills aplenty. Songs like ‘Head Is Like A Sinking Stone’ and ‘BREEZER’ bring back more of the bite and tenacity of the previous albums, but with a sharper and more defined edge. While the charm and beauty of the early albums lay in their mess and abundance of heart and emotion, this album finds its identity in the medley of brutal lyricism and sharper production. These 2 singles are an excellent example of that. Both of these aforementioned tracks really give the band space to breathe and show off, with every member getting shining moments in the final product. ‘Head is Like a Sinking Stone’ is another example of this, with Ben Walsh leading on vocals, delivering a tough and brooding performance through his lyricism, simultaneously playing this off against the album’s catchiest chord progressions and lead lines, managing to create sound that feels complete and linear with similar tones in the vocal parts as there are in the rhythm and guitar parts, making a well baked and easy listening heavy hitter. This is a contrast to the track ’BREEZER, as it creates the inverse effect, with Brianna’s vocals on this track taking a much higher and gentler range than the scathing riff played alongside it. This ability to play with its dynamics is the best part of this project, as it creates a beautiful ebb and flow of both pacing and feel. This track is also an absolute masterclass from behind the kit of Teddy Roberts. The drumming on this album is absolutely exceptional and while he does a stellar job on tracks like ‘Ghost’ and ’Staring At Empty Faces’, he truly shines in ‘BREEZER’, carrying the pace and dictation of the track on his back with his violent half-time verse sections that act as both the heartbeat of the track and a source of sheer adrenaline whenever he sneaks a fill underneath the gliding tone of the guitar and vocals.
The second part of the album contains fewer singles but an absolutely brilliant collection of deep cuts. Tigers Jaw always sound best when their albums are listened to cover to cover. Everything is intentional, well-placed and beautifully written, and this often shines through best in the band’s deep cuts, as while the singles are picked for a reason, every track contains an equivalent level of excellence; tracks like ‘Ghost’ keep a high pace that works in perfect contrast with their despondent lyrics of loss and longing for bad times to pass and something new to begin. This more upbeat pacing is quite common on the second half of the album and makes the slower tracks all the more brutal. Tracks like ‘Roses and Thorns’ take the overall cheery sound of the second half of the album and dips back into immersive and ethereal ballads, truly carrying the listener off somewhere else with its heavy pedal usage and gorgeous vocal phrasings. As this track closes out, we are gifted the title track, signing off an absolutely exceptional album in the most authentic and immersive way they could, piercing and upbeat chords, coupled with an all-timer hardcore-inspired drum performance, carrying the song through its entirety with absolutely no let-up, a deep and rich bass line that allows the chords and vocals to really cut through. This track feels like an amalgamation of every era; the emotional weight of the early albums and the brevity of their new projects meet head-on in a beautiful collision to see this 11-track trip off into the sunset.
While Tigers Jaw have always been a force of nature this album blossoms into something more than that, their wisdom and tenure in the genre has collectively gathered a true wealth of skill that is demonstrated through every second of every track of ‘Lost on You’, if you skip it, your skipping the greatest heartbreak this genre has had to offer for a while so give it a listen, try and keep it together, and enjoy every moment.
Words by Josh Pook
