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Pop Songs Get Burned

Miniature Tigers Get too Close to the Volcano

Miniature Tigers

Tell It To The Volcano

Released on Sep 16, 2008

Miniature Tigers’ Tell It To The Volcano is a lot like Fujiya & Miyagi’s Lightbulbs, an album I reviewed in September of this year.  It turns out the albums were released within a week of one another that month, so the comparison is actually quite convenient.  While Miniature Tigers are from Phoenix, AZ and Fujiya & Miyagi are from Brighton, UK, both bands meld simple synthesizers, subdued guitar and basic beats into three-minute pop songs.  Though the bands differ vocally, they are lyrically similar.  Miniature Tigers’ Charlie Brand sings about dinosaurs; Fujiya & Miyagi’s David Best whispers about porcupines.  When either singer runs out of lyrics in any given song, he simply repeats the chorus line ad nauseam.

With that said, both bands deserve some credit for writing and recording bare-bones, unabashed pop songs and packaging them for profit.  “Cannibal Queen,” the opening track of Tell It To The Volcano, demonstrates Brand’s dedication to The Beatles.  From the “Eye of the Tiger” intro through the vocal harmonies in the chorus and from the la-la-la-la-las of love to the tinge of grunge on the guitar in the break, Miniature Tigers follows the formula for a radio-friendly pop song.

“Like or Like Like” features a similarly sing-along friendly chorus but the subject matter brings the song down a notch.  Seemingly a peeping tom, Brand ponders whether the girl next door likes or likes-likes him, a distinction valley girls might recognize but one that ultimately feels juvenile.  

“Dino Damage” is easily the best song on the album and ought to be the band’s most downloaded song over “Cannibal Queen.”  Daggrr, apparently the name of the band’s guitarist/keyboardist, locks into a killer synth riff and doesn’t let up much over the next two minutes and twenty-two seconds.  Brand’s sweet-as-pie vocals echo Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue in a song plush with melody.  High-pitched guitar twangs answer Brand’s grace notes before the song is pushed along once again by driving percussion.  The song feels much less manufactured than the two previous tracks, so its addictive melody is that much more meaningful and memorable.

The title track on Tell It To The Volcano is really the last worthwhile track on what is, thus, a front-loaded album.  The song features the trustworthy pop hooks of “Cannibal Queen” and “Like or Like Like” without any of the genius present in “Dino Damage.”  Oscillating synths and shaky percussion in “Hot Venom” keep that track interesting for a moment, but the chorus is nowhere near as memorable as the album’s first few tracks.  Songs like “The Wolf” and “Giraffe” have such repetitive choruses that they’re worthy of the “skip” button.

So is Tell It To The Volcano worthy of telling it to your friends?  It depends.  The band has obviously perfected a three-minute pop song with only a pair of EPs, one LP and one national tour under its belt.  Miniature Tigers deserves praise for paying homage to pop music in general and The Beatles in particular.  The problem is that bands pay homage to pop music and The Beatles all the time.  For instance, Department of Eagles’ In Ear Park is basically one big tribute to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  But the indie vibe of In Ear Park, with its freak folk feel and electronic experimentation, makes the album both familiar and brand new at the same time.  Miniature Tigers’ Tell It To The Volcano is just plain pop.  It’s up to you to decide whether that’s good or bad. 

Posted by Ben Wadington on Nov 12, 2008 @ 9:00 am