“Work is just a means to an end / When all I wanna do is fucking chill with my friends.” Whilst biog details are a tad sparse that line there just about sums up We Fight Tigers, a bruising hardcore quartet from Southend-On-Sea. On this untitled EP there’s a real sense that the band is doing this just for the hell of it. And in past experience, that’s the best reason out there.
Having only formed last year this is a speedy release, and also a speedy record. The band manages to bang out seven tracks in 12 minutes. The top half of the EP has an old school gruff punk and hardcore feel to it. A no-nonsense pace brings to mind the likes of Black Flag whilst opener ‘Germs’ almost has a Sex Pistols snarl to its vocals. ‘I Wanna Move To The City‘ even feels like it might have been played by The Ramones, had they ever gotten really angry.
The tail end of the release has a more contemporary feel to it, and whilst you try and avoid what seems like obligatory Gallows references, you just can’t help it. The eponymous track and closer ‘I’d Rather Die Than Be Bored’ sound as though they could have been transplanted directly from Watford.
There’s a real grizzly, lo-fi feel to the recording which works in favour of the band. Refined this isn’t. Raw and sketchy is definitely the name of the game. Predictably also, this isn’t highly original stuff. For a band in its infancy We Fight Tigers is still looking to find a grounding, to try out the ropes. For that part there’s little to mark the band out. But as far as first offerings go, this EP isn’t a bad dose of 12 minute hardcore. Especially if you crank it up really loud.
Alex