TIGERCATS - Mysteries

So who are these mysterious TigerCats? Surely, I thought, the name is oxymoronic. Tigers are from the cat family so they are either or neither not both?! But maybe that’s why they called their second album Mysteries? Who can tell? It reminds me of old kids TV show ThunderCats, but I’m almost certain they never released a pop album.

All I can say is, silly name aside, this is a feel-good lazy summer afternoon pop/indie album.

Wide soundscapes, lyrics referencing everything from books to Prince and lilting melodies, this is a seriously cool album.

The Sunday Times said of their first album, 2012’s Isle of Dogs, that they were a ‘very, very good band.. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band.’ And that’s exactly how this album feels. Sophisticated, witty and laden with feel-good vibes, it makes you wish you had the band in your life when you were 15 years-old rather than the far less cool Take That, Spice Girls and Steps (which being a child of the 90s was my only option.)

TigerCats are songwriter, singer and guitarist Duncan Barrett, his brother Giles on bass, Laura Kovic on keyboards, Jonny Evans on drums and Paul Rains on guitar.

Although Duncan sings on most of the tracks, including the fab Junior Champion and King of Vic, I really enjoyed Laura’s vocals on Laura & Cesar (based on two minor characters in Roberto Bolano’s The Savage Detectives.)

This is a hugely enjoyable album. TIGER... TIGER... TIGERCATS HO!