TIGERTAILZ – Knives (2013)
*
Remembered lovingly for Bezerk, their 1990 chart buster, UK mighty Glam titans TIGERTAILZ failed to sustain the momentum and didn’t see the Millenium glory. But their hairspray has been on again since 2005 and now the quartet bang with the fresh 5-track EP “Knives”.
A real cult band with incessant turmoils throughout their career, a lot of line-up changes, wrong management decisions and even some dramatic moments (R.I.P. Pepsi Tate), 2013 sees Tigertailz returning in great form.
In fact, despite presenting only five tracks, “Knives” includes the band’s best material since that 1990 influential (for many acts worldwide) album.
Original guitarist Jay Pepper is joined by Rob Wylde on bass, Matt Blakout on drums and new singer Jules Millis, from Australian AORsters White Widdow. Millis brings a breathe of melodic bliss to this new Tigertailz, and his tuneful vocals are in grand part responsible for the ‘musicality’ of this material.
Pepper’s melting riffs and killer solos never sounded better (he is a truly great axe-slinger), Wylde provides not only pumping bass lines but also skilful songwriting, while Blakout lays down some top notch beats throughout the five tracks but nowhere more spectacularly than on the Wylde-penned “Bite The Hand”.
This is a killer song with that eruptive dose of metal which has always been a key ingredient for the Tailz heavy duty glam sound and this one ticks all the boxes; dirty riffs and squealing solos, smashing rhythm section and Jules Millis rules the catchy, sing-a-long chorus.
“Shoe Collector” sock it nicely to the glitterati schlock with an a cappella start and an arena swing, “Spit It Out” has a sick melodic rock punch, crazy riffage and backing vocals galore, while the bruising bastardized grooves of “Punched In The Gutz” echoes the twisted fury of the ‘Wazbones’ days.
The EP includes a ballad, yes, a ballad among these on-fire rockin’ numbers, and a good one. “One Life” merge catch melodic rock with acoustic guitar and synths in a reminiscent Skid Row style giving Millis a chance to show how good (and melodious) he is as the tune builds bridges of powerful harmonies between each soul searching verse.
“Knives” is a killer 5-track EP from this refreshed Tigertailz, and leaves you hungry for more.
Jay Pepper and the guys prove here they can still teach a thing or two to a lot of actual Sleaze Metal ‘wonders’, showing how to write a good sing-along chorus with a tasty dose of extremely infectious, nasty & sleazy backing vocals.
Don’t be fooled if ‘sleaze’ is a bad word in your musical tastes; “Knives” combines the catchiness of the genre without sounding silly, it adds a strong, healthy dose of Melodic Rock to it and a polished hard edge rounding an impressive – sadly too short – set of songs. Think Skid Row circa Slave To The Grind meets Shotgun Messiah’s awesome debut and you get the picture.
“Knives” sees Tigertailz rise up back into the premier league of glammy melodic hard rock where they belong. We need a full length album right away.
Kick-ass stuff.
1 – Shoe Collector
2 – One Life
3 – Bite The Hand
4 – Spit It Out
5 – Punched In The Gutz
Jules Millis – Lead and Backing Vocals
Jay Pepper – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Rob Wylde – Bass, Backing Vocals
Matt Blakout – Drums
Pre-Order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Knives-Tigertailz/dp/B00EOQPU24
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