Once again I'm guilty of judging a book by it's cover. Though I'd certainly heard of this band, up until now I'd never actually listened to any of Tiger Army's previous releases. I just figured that since they were signed to Hellcat (Tim Armstrong of Rancid's label) that they would be nothing more than another mohawk wearing punk outfit spewing out the same old "screw the government, screw authority," clichés. In all humility I must admit that my equally clichéd assumptions about Tiger Army got tossed right back in my face. Because as I started to listen to III: Ghost Tigers Rise, TA's third album - I quickly realized that I couldn't have been more wrong about these guys, (although stand-up bass player, Geoff Kresge does have a bitchin' pompadour Mohawk).
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Their sound is a very unique one. Combine a new-wavy, Gothy, honky tonkin' rockabilly, Dick Dale surf guitar with a Misfits/AFI (Black Sails in the Sunset) delivery and you'll find out what the kids these days are calling American Psychobilly. I particularly like the way this record was produced. The echoed, haunting vocals are especially great. It reminds me of listening to one of my grandma's old Johnny Mathis Records from the 50's and 60's. All in all I was really won over by this band, Tiger Army has just enlisted a new recruit into their fan-base. I listened to the CD cranked in my car for three solid days and was not sick of it in the least. The only reason it left my CD player was so I could turn my friend onto it. The next day he bought it. I told him he could burn it if he wanted to, but he's idealistic and believes in supporting the bands he loves. There's just something about actually owning something to have and to hold that's alot cooler than having a silver burned copy that usually gets scratched and abused and eventually tossed. He even bought a T-shirt.