To be honest, I knew very little about Miniature Tigers when I glanced at my iPod except that this strangely infectious sound (originally the track “Gold Skull caught my ear) made me want to take a closer. I did. What I’ve discovered is a mosh posh of styles sounding like The Shins (on “Rock & Roll Troll”), Belle & Sebastian (on “Japanese Woman”) and many other indie bands of the late 90s. If the album only played on this style it would become trite quickly, but its strength lies in its divergence with electro synth-pop tracks like “Gold Skull” and “Tropical Birds” that draw comparisons to Discovery or Neon Indian (two contemporary groups reinterpreting  70s and 80s disco pop). To get  a more “informative” piece about the background of the group, check out our friends at Turntable Kitchen’s review.

Please disregard that this album came out last year and no–for the record–we did not discover this band thanks to the musical curators of Skins (though a friend did point that out to us).

Miniature Tigers “Tropical Birds”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Miniature Tigers “Japanese Woman”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Miniature Tigers “Gold Skull”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Miniature Tigers: “Rock & Roll Mountain Troll”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.