Review Summary: Hooked on the first listen - fantastic album
I don't know if the other reviews and ratings quite gave this album enough credit. Just stumbling through artists for a new band to get into I found this album and was hooked on the first listen through.
I thought the album as a whole was really well put together and easy to groove to. Instrumentally, the combination of incredibly catchy guitar and perfect backing bass lines to the passionate vocals had me listening to the whole album through three times over the first day I got it. I agree with the other review in how Tigers Jaw used unorthodox transitions of pace in songs like the first two of the album: The Sun, in which the initial fast paced guitars slowed into a steadier more passionate song, and Plane Vs Tank Vs Submarine, which started with an acoustic guitar accompanying the vocals and eventually melded in the other elements of the band to complete the great song.
What really got me with this album though was how relatable the music was to our generation. The conflicts and struggle to find happiness in everyday relationships could easily be felt through lyrics like "I like to think that I can work it out some, but I want to be put into the ground" in I Saw Water and "Well every time you talk I love everything you say, everything we try to start there's something in the way" in Between Your Band And The Other Band. Although the quality of the song writing and lyrical aspect of the album may not be consistently amazing throughout every song, I feel that the power and feeling in which every song is sung and played is consistently there. The emo-like influence and feeling in the lyrics shouldn't even bother anyone who may not enjoy that kind of song writing (it certainly doesn't bother me as I love bands like The Get Up Kids) because the personal connection the band has with the music they write and play is obvious in the captivating way they perform every song on the album, and makes it effortless to get into yourself.
The dynamics of this album are also incredible throughout. With plenty of songs with great catchy guitar riffs like The Sun, Between Your Band And The Other Band, and I Was Never Your Boyfriend, and slower, more melodic songs like Plane Vs Tank Vs Submarine, I Saw Water, and Meals on Wheels, Tigers Jaw's self titled has a great array of songs to enjoy. All of which are played with the same passion and enthusiasm, which is what I commend the band the most for, and which is what inspired me to review this amazing album.
