Three Trapped Tigers
It's a mark of a great band when they’re able to create entirely original music from reference points as diverse as revolutionary Cuban literature, Aphex Twin and Lightning Bolt, informing a sound that has been studied over at length and found to be near impossible to recreate. It's a further mark of a great band that the reason an attempt at recreation would be futile is because the musicianship is to such a level that to even remain in time, let alone hit the right notes, seems complicated to the point of pointlessness. Three Trapped Tigers have created a world in which we can spectate, understand and seek inspiration but never match those who built it. There will be no cover bands.
Where did this world come from? Starting out as a two piece, initially a vehicle for Tom Rogerson (piano, keyboards, voice) and Matt Calvert (guitar, synths, electronics) to work on their entirely improvised music, it wasn't long until they drafted in friend and god-of-drums Adam Betts and Three Trapped Tigers were born, taking their name from a book by Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante. Betts’ inclusion also shifted the band’s focus from improvisation to composition, allowing their ideas to fully form and creating the sound of theirs we know today.
'3' Three Trapped Tigers [demo] by mattcalvert
Soon after the band attracted the attention of legendary producer Gordon Raphael (The Strokes, Regina Spektor) who was impressed by the trio’s unique blend of noise and contemplation, ambience and franticness, as well as each member’s own impressive skills as a musician in their own fields. They emerged from Raphael's studio with their first EP recorded, simply entitled EP1 (1-5) each song named after a number. Alongside the exciting process of crafting their first EP the band were also gaining notoriety for their astonishing live act. Their third gig was at Reading Festival, a true sign of the leaps and bounds the band were taking with their music. The EP was met with critical acclaim and the band embarked on a momentous period of shows.
The regularity of and rapturous reception to their gigs allowed the band to continue to push, pull and reconsider musical boundaries they’d set themselves in the past. Under a year after the release of EP1 the band went back into the studio and emerged with EP2 (6-9), the tracks again austerely named after their number and the record once more finding itself on the receiving end of mass critical acclaim. EP3 (10-13) followed eight months later, cementing the fanbase across critics, contemporaries and Joe Public alike.
Three Trapped Tigers - 11 (edit) by bloodandbiscuits
Musically finding themselves further and ever more thrillingly adrift in unchartered waters, live they were still capable of putting on one of the best shows you'd ever seen, even if you'd already watched it two or three times before. Three Trapped Tigers had developed their cult following, and with the same time and consideration as they'd given to their development it was clear now was the time to start building their album.
Entitled Route One Or Die, the album saw release this week, and has largely been hailed as one of the most impressive debuts from a British rock band (to use the term loosely) in recent times. Moving away slightly from displaying their still heartfelt love of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, the music on it is some of the most intricate, inspring and important you're likely to come across this year. Whilst many electronic musicians have struggled to balance their passion and energy alongside the coldness and cynicism of composing music on computers, Three Trapped Tigers are writing the textbook in how to combine heart and machinery.