With this review I had a double eye-opening experience. I remember how a good while ago someone recommended to me Three Trapped Tigers based on my taste etc etc. Ok, let’s give them a go! And so I did. I found three EPs, enigmatically called EP, EP2 and EP3. The tracks were unnamed, only numbered, and what was truly fascinating, there was continuity! The second EP was picking up exactly where the first one ended and so on. The music was interesting, although I have to admit – it didn’t get me hooked at once. Still I made a mental note that those guys are the ones to watch. That’s why when months later an opportunity came to review their full album, I jumped at it straight away and let myself sink into another release with a yet another enigmatic title – ‘1 – 13’.
My second eye-opening experience was the fact that I must’ve explored Three Trapped Tigers’ music somehow the other way around compared to the rest of the society. While they were going back to the EPs after listening to their full album, ‘Route One or Die’, I was living in oblivion and only listened to it after sinking my teeth deep into ‘Numbers 1 – 13’ and already drafting a review.
The band themselves describe ‘Numbers’ as a pallet the album was painted from – and that is exactly right. Every track on the album has its own identity. Every one takes me to a different mood, place, memory… The opening ‘1’ has a similar rough kick to And So I Watch You From Afar and requires the volume on your headphones to be turned down a little bit. ‘2’ introduces kind of a 65daysofstatic-y piano, proving the band’s musical knowledge and ability to produce experimental/contemporary tracks. Number 2 climaxes rather beautifully with some broken electronic sounds, drums and echoes of the piano – and the following ‘3’ jumps right into soft, synth electronica. There are elements reminding me of good old Battles in it and the mood is very light-hearted. ‘4’ takes us again to the world of contemporary and experimental piano, almost reminding me of Leah Kardos’ album. My absolutely favourite number ‘5’ is very jazzy.
And now’s the time to stop describing every single track because I could go on for ages… Yes, the music is good, especially when you’re walking or driving around and want to have a background noise to your own thoughts (and don’t get me wrong, I’m that kind of a person who appreciates it very much indeed as my own thoughts have to have some company!). No particular title for the album and the songs is a great idea – it allows the listener to get their own interpretations and to link it to their experiences, moods, events etc. But it has to be listened to with the knowledge of ‘Route One or Die’. Without knowing that there was an album that followed those ‘thirteen easy pieces’, an album that uplifts noise in music to an ecstatic level, ‘Numbers 1 – 13’ can come across as slightly lacking a distinctive identity. To me ‘1 – 13’ sounds like 13 exercises in different styles of music, I keep coming up with various influences I can trace in every following composition. And knowing it was a prelude to a highly acclaimed album – it’s a great thing. It almost looks like the band knew they wanted to have some drafting space before going into details like titles, sequences of tracks, a theme behind it all – and once they did, they did it exquisitely.
Perks of the ‘Numbers 1 – 13’ are: all the tracks were remastered and the sold out EPs were put together on one release. To everyone who knew them before, it only means they can add another album to their shelf, or delete the previous playlist with EPs from their library (my case). But to everyone who got stunned by ‘Route One or Die’ – this will be a remarkable insight into how a band’s true identity was born. You don’t get that too often.
Released March 05 2012 throughBlood & Biscuits
Posted by Magda Wrzeszcz
