The album will be available on the 4th November via Blood & Biscuits. You can hear the first single ‘OK Please’ on their Bandcamp page. It provides a clear insight into the band’s style of experimental electronics and jazzy math rock tendencies.

The band will also be playing a free album launch on the 2nd November at Birthdays in London.

The trio’s last release was their debut EP, ‘Horizons / Rapture’, on Blood & Biscuits in 2013.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rdxZ4eoLMn4

NOVEMBER
08 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
10 RAMSGATE Music Hall
11 LONDON Heaven
12 SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
13 BRIGHTON Patterns
15 GUILFORD Boileroom
16 LEAMINGTON Zephyr
17 BIRMINGHAM The Flapper
18 LEICESTER The Cookie
20 LEEDS Belgrave Music Hall
21 NEWCASTLE Cluny 3
22 GLASGOW Stereo
23 SHEFFIELD Plug
24 MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen

The London noise trio released their latest album, ‘Silent Earthling’, in April via Superball Music.

NOVEMBER
08 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
10 RAMSGATE Music Hall
11 LONDON Heaven
12 SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
13 BRIGHTON Patterns
15 GUILFORD Boileroom
16 LEAMINGTON Zephyr
17 BIRMINGHAM The Flapper
18 LEICESTER The Cookie
20 LEEDS Belgrave Music Hall
21 NEWCASTLE Cluny 3
22 GLASGOW Stereo
23 SHEFFIELD Plug
24 MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen

Just two bands feature on tonight’s bill, the first of which is Dragons That Make Love To Pandas. A friend of ours often says “All band names are awful”, a grandiose, sweeping statement at face value, but on the evidence of this quartet’s moniker, one that may contain some semblance of truth. However, we’ve learned never to judge a book by its cover, and DTMLTP’s music more than makes up for their heinous name. Fusing the British math-rock sounds of TTNG and Tangled Hair to the energy and urgency of American emo legends such as Cap’n Jazz and Snowing, their recently-added vocalist Sean Westall (who also drums in up-and-coming emo-poppers Itoldyouiwouldeatyou) is a charismatic performer, writhing about the stage to the band’s twisting arpeggiated riffs. One of Westall’s conditions for joining was to enforce a name change, so keep your eyes peeled for the re-brand – they may find it easier to get booked if a promoter can actually fit their name on the poster.

Faced with a choice of seeing tonight’s headliners in either the Boileroom or the Scala in King’s Cross, we plumped for Three Trapped Tigers pushing the sound system of a small venue to its limits of strain, and as the trio crash into an intense version of ‘Cramm’ (from their 2012 début full-length ‘Route One Or Die’), we feel absolutely vindicated in our decision. TTT sound monumental in this room, the atmospherics created by the synths of Tom Rogerson and the guitar of Matt Calvert swarm every eardrum and resonate around the venue, as a compact crowd bang their heads in appreciation.

It’s been a long time coming, but the follow-up to the aforementioned début, ‘Silent Earthling’ is finally with us and cuts from this record nestle in nicely alongside old favourites. Whereas the overall sound of ‘ROOD’ was a display of bulldozering brawn, ‘Silent Earthling’ is an altogether more ambient and cerebral affair, reminding us of the change in tack by British math-rock peers Brontide from the sound of ‘Sans Souci’ to that of ‘Artery’. However, their “spacier” turn shouldn’t be mistaken for a loss of effectiveness; the powerhouse technical drumming of Adam Betts, who we’re not sure is entirely human, anchors their instrumental wizardry and maintains Three Trapped Tigers as a formidable force.

With the recent loss of Maybeshewill, the vanguard of the British math/post-rock scene has an empty space, and even though they’re only on their second album, TTT look primed to take that place at the forefront alongside titans such as 65daysofstatic. It’s easy to see why this group have attracted admirers like Bowie producer Brian Eno and Deftones’ Chino Moreno; put simply they are a phenomenon and tonight’s 70 minute set flies by. Even if you’re not too fond of math-rock this might just be the group to get you into it – these Trapped Tigers have been unleashed and are on the prowl. Sleep on this band at your peril.

““I think the problem for anyone striving to create their own sound is, once you – hopefully – have achieved that, how do you expand that whilst maintaining it?,” guitarist Matt Calvert pondered over their new album upon its release announcement back in January.

New previously released title-track, ‘Engrams’ and now ‘Tekkers’ achieve just that. All are noisy electro led compositions, packing even more of a punch than their previous ‘Route One Or Die’.

The graphics have been created by Chris Boyle, described by the trio as “clearly insane”. “He’s taken the album artwork by Paul Maurice and turned it into a new interactive audio/visual dimension! It’s a pleasure once again to soundtrack his unhinged mind.”

‘Silent Earthing’ will be available from the 1st April, and follows 2011’s ‘Route One or Die’ debut.

The bog-standard video is available to view below, with the full experience waiting over at their band’s ‘Silent Earthing’ website.

““I think the problem for anyone striving to create their own sound is, once you – hopefully – have achieved that, how do you expand that whilst maintaining it?,” ponders guitarist Matt Calvert. A question that has been in part answered by tours alongside Dillinger Escape Plan and Deftones, as well as working alongside Brian Eno and Karl Hyde of Underworld for the new record.

Calvert and drummer Adam Betts have honed their skills as part of The Heritage Orchestra, performing new takes on Joy Division classics, the Blade Runner soundtrack and more. It’s all led the band to where they are now.

“Our whole operation is very DIY – other than a few days of intense drum recording in a ‘proper’ studio, we recorded everything else in my flat, where I also mixed the album,” Calvert expands. “We rehearsed and did pre-production stuff at the Deptford Music Complex, just down the road from where Betts and I live, just off Queens Road, Peckham. It’s great to have had a local feel to the making of the album, we were very much entrenched in South East London that summer.”

The instrumental powerhouses have revealed the title-track from the record, alongside a series of UK tour dates in April and May.

APRIL
17 GLASGOW Hug and Pint
18 MANCHESTER Think Tank
19 YORK Fibbers
20 LIVERPOOL Buyers Club
21 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
22 NOTTINGHAM Bodega, Nottingham
23 BIRMINGHAM Rainbow, Birmingham
25 READING Purple
26 GUILDFORD Boileroom
28 LONDON Scala
30 MILTON KEYNES Craufurd Arms

MAY
02 BRISTOL The Lantern
03 BRIGHTON The Haunt
09 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
10 CAMBRIDGE Portland Arms

Next, and over at Clwb For iBach, GALLOPS took to the stage downstairs and give everyone a lesson in instrumental performance. The band’s live show is perfectly suited to the downstairs venue at the legendary club, and there’s no doubt that they’re at the forefront of the new breed of progressive bands that neither need or desire or a vocalist. The instrumental “scene” has some really excellent artists coming through at the moment, and Gallops constantly show why they should be considered amongst the best of them.

A quick jump upstairs reveals the beginning of Brit-Pop revivalists TOWN‘s set. The band draw fairly shamelessly on some big names from the mid to late nineties for their sound, but also reach back further to bands like The Clash an add in their own spin on things to create a stripped down sound that narrowly avoids sounding out of date. The band are excellent live, and though it’s going to be important for the band to try and avoid getting written off as a purely throwback pleasure, there’s definitely the potential for them to do great things.

Finally, and basically the number one reason for us making the trip across to a bright and crisp Caerdydd for the weekend, was THREE TRAPPED TIGERS. Their recent music videos have been grabbing them plenty of attention, but if you’ve any interest in the more progressive end of rock at all, then you need to paying attention to this band. Great on record, but live, the band are something behold. The band brought Clwb’s downstairs venue to a close emphatically with a memorable set that was impossible not to feel transfixed by.

Saturday evening of SWN involved four great bands, and as we got an early night with a cup of tea* ahead of a busy Sunday, Cardiff was buzzing after a great day of music – and we’re absolutely gutted we couldn’t have got their for the Thursday and Friday nights.

*this is actually 100% true**
**okay, we had a few beers afterwards

TOM AYLOTT