Republic Tigers
(Chop Shop)
The Republic Tigers are a Grey’s Anatomy band – in the sense that the Kansas City group’s music has appeared on the show, and, yes, it’s smooth enough for your Coldplay-loving boss. But the Tigers’ big break – getting noticed by Chop Shop Records exec Alexandra Patsavas, who handpicks music for Grey’s and other high tension TV melodramas – and the resulting pop cultural shorthand is bio fodder that only the jealous can scoff at. Bands this good deserve to be heard by millions of people.
And for those who’ve only just discovered the Tigers, new LP Keep Color is a pleasant introduction that’s best enjoyed with closed eyes. The album opens with a prolonged electronic tone, soft guitar strums and disembodied oohs. “Buildings and Mountains” is the only track for which singer Kenn Jankowski didn’t write the lyrics. Yet the subdued pop song sets an appropriate futuristic mood through existential questions and the prophesy of a changing landscape. Lyrically, almost every song here envisions a new world – created through hard work, love, war or deep concentration – painted in ethereal guitars, Jankowski’s mumbles and soft but prodding percussion. Surreal, sci-fi images abound, such as bike rides with jet packs and boys with “robotic insides.” Only one track seems out of place: “Air Guitar,” an ode to the axe feels forced and thematically light, probably because it seems to be about Guitar Hero.
Standout Tracks: “Golden Sand,” “The Nerve” CRYSTAL K. WIEBE
