The Tigers Beautiful Forest by: Tom Perry Mon:01-Oct-07 Label: Sensory Projects Year: 2007 WB rating 55 out of 100

Officially forming in 1997, Perth’s The Tigers have grown from a bunch of childhood friends into a decade old band with a decent back-catalogue of work – the highlight of their career most probably being their ventures east, punctuated by their support of Smog in 1999. Beautiful Forest is their third full length studio album, discounting some EPs and a double remix album. Carrying a deep, blues-pop sound reminiscent of Sydney’s Gelbison, it is, according to singer/guitarist Chris Cobilis himself, the most linear – or less improvised – of their work thus far.
 
Lovers of indie-pop melodies will find much to like on Beautiful Forest, but may find it hard to digest the heavier work towards its second half. The flipside is, unfortunately, that The Tigers’ other key strength – their ‘free’ sound which shines in those aforementioned second halves – does seem to have been more restricted by the more traditional song structures they’ve taken. It is an album that rewards on multiple listens, but also one that tests the patience in getting there.

It’s an awkward balance. But it can be effective, as proven on Forest’s lengthy opener, ‘Nicest Band’. Starting slowly, its first minute-and-a-half is subdued Sunday hangover material, but with a patient build it ends as a deep, thrash-heavy epic. The album’s fifth track, ‘Librarian Girl’ is disappointingly not the sordid tale of a sexually-repressed book-keeper that many may have hoped for. Instead it’s a deliberately off-kilter tune that pushes into late-night impromptu musical territory, particularly with some solid trumpet work at its finish – its awkwardness affecting its success.

‘Marry Him Off’, however proves that The Tigers have good songs in them. The most aggressive and bold work on Forest, it verges on grunge territory and despite the fact that it’s the simplest and most traditionally-formed work here, it is simultaneously the most uninhibited and free.  However these occasional flashes of brilliance are weakened by Cobilis’ vocals. During performance his voice carries a raw, punk – and slightly off-tune – quality; a quality that misses the band’s restrained side, most notably the quieter moments of ‘Names & Things’.

Musically though, this is strong stuff. As a collective, The Tigers are clearly comfortable together and interplay well with one another. As a result there is a strong sense of cohesion throughout multiple layers of mashing sounds. As an album, Beautiful Forest feels like a set of waves: its sound moves in peaks and troughs, breaking into crescendos and heady rushes, before flattening out for a prolonged, unnecessary down time.