Party Ends

   The Laughing’s debut EP Tiger Cry loosely ties together themes of fantasy and reality, intertwined and channeled thru a self-aware group in matching outfits with ironic accessories, and the results are phenomenal.  The Austin group grabs your attention with their thematic gimmick of obsessing over white tiger imagery on their bodies, album cover and in their songs. What results is a strongly cohesive album that rocks, screams and bangs in all the right places. Each track stands alone as an innovative dance rock single and collectively the EP establishes the band as a true force to be reckoned with- any naysayer will have to face the wrath of their stuffed white tiger mascot Svan.

   But I digress.  Tiger Cry is as mature as it is fun. This EP is going to fit right into (and even trail blaze) the trend of dance rock, following in the footsteps of Q and Not U, Hot Hot Heat, and dare I say it the Killers… you know… only more interesting.  There are odd time signatures, glockenspiels, old school synthesizers, and wicked hot bass licks. The multitude of instrumentation is hard to grasp at times because each song comes packed with a simple and memorable hook.  The fullness makes it hard to believe that this is their first recording. The expectations of this amazing live band are met and exceeded thanks largely in part to Cacophony Recorders' Erik Wofford who has previously worked with such Austin luminaries as Voxtrot, Explosions in the Sky and Okkervil River. 

   Opener Wearing the Colors sets up the disk with a building horn riff that returns at the end of the song as a sleazy and self-aware 1970s audio equivalent to a porno mustache.  The horn sounds like the Wreckx-N-Effects RumpShaka sample, and frankly there is not enough of that in modern music.  The high-pitched vocals float over the synths and drum fills until a climatic build is immediately brought back down into the zone of choppy Bloc Party beats.  The song’s structure is not the traditional verse/chorus/verse, but rather a continually tearing down and rebuilding on its own themes. The band is talented. Period.  For further proof: let the drums murder you on Wait Until He Roars, as percussionist Grant Van Amburgh nails each beat with fast and repetitious fills that become as much a part of the song as guitarist and vocalist Logan Middleton lamenting as a “man of vision" who actually has visions.

   I can’t recommend this larger-than-life album enough.  If you don’t trust me, I am sure you will trust one of hundreds of critics who are about to start talking about the Laughing nonstop.  Tiger Cry we be one of the best releases of 2007. 

   Tiger Cry by the Laughing will be available at their February 10^th show at the Victory Grill and via their website. After that, it will also be available around town (Austin).  This show is not to be missed if you live in Austin… the boys have all sorts of surprises up their white denim sleeves.  Also- we are proud help present their first out of town show in Dallas at the Cavern on February 24^th.

 MP3: The Laughing - Wait Until He Roars 

MP3: The Laughing - Wearing the Colors 

Read more about the Laughing on Party Ends here, here, here, or even here.