We Tigers: Rivals

It is unfortunate that this Brooklyn outfit decided to choose a moniker which is exactly the same as the title of a song off Animal Collective’s esteemed Sung Tongs album. Unfortunate because those of us hoping the name might signal an homage to the band which originally used it will, most likely, be sorely disappointed. We Tigers bears no immediate resemblance to eccentric pop stylings of Animal Collective. The band actually has more in common with This Is It-era Strokes than the aforementioned band — yet another unfortunate characteristic. The band’s experimental pop inevitably wanders into slacker rock territory with both literal and figurative “who the fuck cares?” / “I’m too cool for school” moments. “Don’t you know it’s just bullshit?” the band proclaims at the end of “Flattery”. Their swagger only gets them so far. Opening song “Transatlantic” starts of on a promising note but the mood quickly turns to sour repetitive, generic rock with tracks such as “Switchrails” and “Double Madonna”. We Tigers are most likely to leave you pining for the Animal Collective album for which their name was undoubtably derived from.