"I'd rather be without you than be anything like her" - Tiger Trap

News item the first: I'm hitting the road October 28th for what's looking to be the most partyriffic vacation of my young life. Stay tuned.

News item the second: 25 minutes on the phone with Hank Williams III is a rather bizarre experience, as you can see here: http://www.racketmag.com/interview_hank3.html It takes a bit for him to warm up, but once you get him going, his disjointed, largely hilarious rants take over. The "Auschwitz Museum gift shop" exchange is easily the most offensive thing I've ever been involved in as a music journalist.

Yet again, I open another posting with a description of what this post was going to be but is not. However, since I've learned to count to ten and not be a sadsack on the internet, it's not going to be Matt: The Emoing. As such, it doesn't consist of me writing "GODDAMMIT." followed by a bunch of Patsy Cline and Alkaline Trio mp3s. I was thinking of doing This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, but then I realized the only TBIAPB album I like is Three-Way Tie For a Fifth, which is probably a reference to sharing or some other equally gay anarcho punk ideal.

Instead I'm going to post yet another indie girl-pop group I like, because I can't get enough of them. I'm a ravenous, insatiable predator for their bottomless cuteness and sad harmonies. At least, this is the excuse I offer for the Talulah Gosh bootlegs I have on my CD shelf.

Tiger Trap is an indie-pop nerd wet dream come true. Named after a Calvin and Hobbes strip, sounding like Heather Lewis' songs in Beat Happening, coming from a town not known for producing good bands (Sacramento, California), lasting scarcely more than a year (thus disappearing before they could have achieved anything resembling underground popularity), and being signed to K Records ("now 33% more hipper to tell patrons of your record shop!") all add up to the kind of trump card people in sweaters name drop at parties in order to one-up each other before they get drunk and have a one-night stand that spawns some heartfelt b-side to their band's debut 7".

I'd be cynical about all this if their lone LP wasn't so stunning in its quality. Other than Beat Happening's final two albums (Dreamy and You Turn Me On), I can't imagine a more essential K Records release. You might recognize singer Rose Melberg from her other projects, including Go Sailor, the Softies, or her coffeehouse solo albums. For as much as I love all her latter-day records, though, none of them come close to touching Tiger Trap. Maybe it's the tempo appealing to the punk in me. Maybe it's the heartfelt melancholy and inner hopeless romantic Mleberg spurts with every note. Maybe it's how catchy the songs are or how the sweet harmonies crack your smile and break your heat in the same breath. It's probably all these things. If I posted every song I liked, I'd probably end up posting the whole fucking record, so you'll have to settle for these tidbits...which are still 1/3 of the album.

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/430068/tiger_trap_supreme_nothing.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/5196651/tiger_trap_for_sure.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/3865134/tiger_trap_puzzle_pieces.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/463852/tiger_trap_my_broken_heart.mp3.html