Album of the Week: Aloha Tigers – Aloha Tigers
Presenting the debut album by Illinois duo Aloha Tigers. On a Scottish DIY tape label.
Obviously.
See, this neat little release marks the first activity by Kirkcudbright Tape Club, a micro concern by former ‘Have Fun At Dinner’ blogger and current Song, by Toad associate Ian Greenhill.
And it’s a perfect fit. Greenhill’s old site had an unhealthy obsession with the dreamier side of indie pop, especially if it happened to be Swedish.
Now, we’re not aware of any Scandanavian blood flitting round Aloha Tigers’ veins but if you close your eyes you might just find yourself imagining underrated lo-fi troupe the Radio Dept streaming laid back, melodic loveliness into your eyes.
We’ll hear more about how this bizarre collaboration came about below, but let savour some bite size chunks from Aloha Tigers.
Your Ghost would make the Shins proud, all the more pertinent in the year that they’ve returned with a rather ropey single. The Kind of Girl You Like might feel like lightweight pop fluff but within the song lurk lyrics and vivid descriptions of their somewhat negative effects.
Arguably best of all is Darkest Dreams, which aptly takes you to a place where you could curl up, close your eyes and forget about that big bad world out there before poking you awake with a sharp reminder that feral kids are stripping your car of its useful parts outside.
And the band name? You’re thinking of tigers cubs in Hawaiian shirts aren’t you? Hang on to that imagine, it’s worth savouring… Cute but likely to turn on you once you realise what they’re all about.
I grabbed a word with the band this week.
Care to introduce yourselves?
Michael Wharfield: We started Aloha Tigers in October of 2009 as a home recording project. We basically met on accident. At first, each of us was kind of intimidated by the other, but that ended abruptly after we actually got to talking and realized that we had the same musical goals and interests. And that we share a number of similar neuroses. And it went from there.
Nick Aister: Mike built our studio from the ground up, makes all our beats, does all the production, and all the mixing, and mastering. I write and perform the songs. It’s kind of a DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh
Prince, “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper”-type thing, except I do not believe that either of them was suffering from massive depression or crippling anxiety when they were making their albums. Although I don’t know that for certain.
Mike: We’ve both been making music since we were kids and intend to keep doing it until we are old and feeble.
Nick: I am already somewhat feeble.
Mike: And old.
Nick: And old. I am old.
Aloha Tigers. Hello Kitty with sharper teeth in Hawaiian shirts. Discuss.
Nick: I am personally a huge fan of that description. We genuinely try to make upbeat, catchy pop songs, but the darkness always finds a way in. I’ve always been really into people like Randy Newman and Jarvis Cocker, who write absolutely amazing tunes with scathing lyrics, and that’s kind of what I aspire too. And I like kitties, a lot.
Mike: I stole a Hawaiian shirt from my dad once and tried to make Nick wear it, but he wouldn’t.
Nick: It looked really terrible on me. I only look good in certain types of shirts.
Mike: You should always keep an eye out for a shirt you like.
What were the key inspirations behind the album?
Nick: The world is clearly falling to pieces all around us and we wanted to make an album that sort of reflects how we feel about that.
Mike: Between impending environmental collapse, peak oil, corporate-sponsored war, the global rise of the neo-feudalist state and the coming of the singularity, we feel its pretty obvious that humankind is on its last legs, so we convened and decided that now is the time to make art.
Nick: We locked ourselves in a smoky room for a year and basically taught ourselves how to make an album as a means of distracting ourselves from our encroaching destruction. It was fun.
What drew you to a super low key DIY Scottish label?
Mike: Primarily, Ian Greenhill. He started Kirkcudbright Tape-Club as a genuine labor of love and he”s been in our corner from the very beginning. It’s a good fit because we’re kind of ornery and independent-minded, and Ian is too. He’s allowed us maintain control of our artistic vision, if that doesn’t sound too pretentious, and he’s repeatedly worn himself ragged sticking his neck out there and promoting the shit out of us. When you have the opportunity to work with someone like Ian, you jump at it, you know?
Nick: Also, we’re from a relatively small town in the middle of America, so signing with a label out of Scotland is terribly exotic. Although I believe Ian may have had a minor objection to being referred to as “super low key”. We all consider ourselves to be rather high key. That’s a thing, right? Sure it is. Print that.
