Romance Of Young Tigers - I Have Supped Full Of Horrors
[Arclight Communications]

Just before Christmas last year, a peculiar looking CD arrived in my letterbox. I opened it excitedly to investigate further, when a note fell from inside the sleeve. The note revealed some information about the band that sent it to me. At the time I had no idea what was in store, little did I know that, the Ohio-based quartet, Romance of Young Tigers were about to alter my preconceptions of the whole post-rock movement for good.

Remember the first time you heard an Explosions In The Sky track?. Remember the first time Mogwai melted your face with a ferocious volley of guitar distortion?. Well I do and I can quite honestly say that Romance of Young Tigers have the same devastating dynamics of those instrumental stalwarts. Imagine Mono fusing their mammoth wall of sound with Labradford's attention to detail and you are only getting half the picture.

Back then in December, Romance Of Young Tiger were unsigned, but upon hearing this 4 track Ep, I was convinced that they were destined for greatness. Thankfully, Arclight Communications have seen fit to release this gem (in a limited number). If there was ever a 'every home should have one' album or Ep, this is it.

For a band with literally no percussive elements, Romance Of Young Tigers sound of massive distorted soundscapes is, nothing short of, absolutely monumental. (Before talking about the music, the packaging is something to marvel at too. It’s handmade, hand-drawn and highly inventive. It makes this EP worth buying, before even listening to the music.)

Opening proceedings with the incredible, and aptly titled, “Long Withdrawing Roar”, this fledgling band combine lulling drones that slowly unravel into a real cacophony of psychedelic sound. As this track progresses, the discordant sounds become drenched in reverb, while a glorious melody starts to emerge, before subsiding into a mass of distorted ambience. For a band’s first foray into recorded territory, it is astounding stuff.

After such a glorious start, it is hard to see how Romance Of Young Tigers could match it, but with “We Sing Sin”, they not only do that, they somehow, manage to go one better. I can only imagine what it is like to experience this band in a live setting, because the sheer volume of “We Sing Sin”, would surely be enough to dislodge one’s brain. It is a ferocious and intense track, clocking in at well over 11 minutes. Again, despite no percussive elements, this hypnotic composition features crescendos that are as big as tidal waves. The Mono/Labradford comparison is probably most apparent here. While “Long Withdrawing Roar” is incredible, “We Sing Sin” is stunning.

Third track, “The Sound And The Fury”, through no fault of its own, suffers from the sheer quality of the previous two tracks. It changes tact slightly, relying on spectral drones and some psychedelic, twinkling sounds to start it off. Again, it builds slowly, but purposefully, into a thick cloud of distortion. It is as epic as the opening two tracks, but looses it impact slightly because of what’s went on before. That is not to say “The Sound And The Fury” is an inferior track, because most bands would kill to compose something as monolithic as this.

“Cease Silent Soft Choir”, the EP’s closing track, reminds me of the work of Seattle noise-mongers Hovercraft. Employing walls of wailing feedback and some eerie sound effects, it serves to create an atmosphere that is quite unsettling. It would be a perfect score for a horror film and also shows Romance Of Young Tigers to be no ‘one-trick ponies’. Of course, you can never get enough of a good thing and the band slowly guide this song into an eruption of that, now trademarked, distorted ambience around the 5 minute mark, before descending back into the sinister soundscape.

At nearly 35 minutes long, the 4 expansive tracks that make up this EP provide some jaw-dropping moments. The breathtaking “We Sing Sin” is the pick of the bunch, but there are inspired moments on all four tracks. I am running out of superlatives to describe this release. Sure they have their influences, but the sound here is, most definitely, their own. Everything about this release oozes quality, from the packaging to the music itself. To sum it up in one word: Spectacular.

Track Listing

1. Long Withdrawing Roar
2. We Sing Sin
3. The Sound and The Fury
4. Cease Silent Soft Choir