Tiger Army – lll : Ghost Tigers Rise

No band has faced more diversities then Tiger Army has. They’ve gone through numerous line up changes in their history and only have one of the original members left in the band, Nick 13. But in March of 2003, the band faced their biggest challenge ever. Drummer Fred Hell was shot four times during a brutal home invasion robbery. This made it impossible for the drummer to actually play on the band’s third album, lll: Ghost Tigers Rise. So the band was then forced to call in long time friend and drum tech Mike Fasano to record the drums for the album. Now Fred is all better, although he will always have a bullet lodged in his brain, and Tiger Army are ready to rock out again. lll: Ghost Tigers Rise will get the band ready to do that.

The 13 track album starts off with two introduction tracks, this slows down the album a bit. One introduction song is enough, two is just pushing it. But after the the second song, they jump into Wander Aloneand you easily forget about the shaky start. Tiger Army play a psychobilly style of music, which is a mixture of punk and fifties rockabilly twang. This is always a fun genre and breathes a breath of fresh air into the watered down airwaves. It appears to those fifties loyalists and the new rock and roll fans around the world. The beat is always energetic and toe-tapping. The use of the standup bass delivers a delightful tangy, hollow noise that you don’t get from a regular bass. One of the top songs would be The Long Road, the acoustic sing along song about love and memories. Its uses a pedal steel guitar, which makes the song stand out in the album, all the will still having the psychobilly twang in it. The lyrics are dark and unique, “Death is pure – life is not. So ask yourself, what do you want? As for me, well I want you. So pick the black rose and let its thorns cut you” – Rose Of The Devil’s Garden, and yet still incredibly catchy.

Any psychobilly fan will enjoy this album. Fans of pop-punk or more straight forward punk may not, but you should still give it a chance; you never know, you might find a style that you secretly love.