While Go Over Here , the new EP from Chicago post-punk outfit Tiger Bones, features tightly written, gloomy-but-intriguing songs, most impressive is the record’s consistent duality throughout each song. This EP sounds dirty and raw, but not for the reasons you think.

Unlike many bands today Tiger Bones are in no way a Lo-Fi band and don’t rely on the Lo-Fi aesthetic to compensate for poor songwriting and the absence of a properly recorded track. They take their efforts seriously and you can hear it in the final product. Go Over Here , is produced and mastered in a way that is professional yet not overdone. This is most prevalent in the second track “Silence” as it sounds crystal clear like Phoenix, but with less flair and filler.

Album opener “Kill Them” begins with a slow and gritty bass line that takes plenty of influence from Joy Division and other bands from that era, while continuing with a pounding drum beat that uses the cymbal sparingly to help establish the mood of the song.

“Kill Them” comes off as melancholy at first, but the more it goes on the more you feel the need to dance, and ultimately as the song progresses the two guitars start churning out riffs that mix together interestingly to keep you listening, as each riff is strong enough to have been a song on its own.

“Native” picks up the energy of the album by pulling away from the dancey post-punk influence and turns into a light head banging jam. The riff that drives the chorus will have you bouncing along in your car or living room.

The last original song on the album, “Eyeliner,” shows off all of Tiger Bones’ talents in full form and is the song on the EP that has the most detail in the instrumentation. “Eyeliner” is a guitar heavy track, but not for epic riffs that crunch through your speakers. The notes the guitarists delicately strum up and down the fret board in a fashion that might make you think of Dick Dale while the song itself strays slightly from the tired typical verse-chorus-verse format.

To close Go Over Here , Tiger Bones bust out a cover of “Transmission” from Joy Division. The band successfully takes the post-punk classic and brings it into today’s world with proper augmentation and vocals that sound so eerily like Ian Curtis, it’s actually a bit too close for comfort.

Go Over Here is a an attention-grabbing debut from Tiger Bones, and it will be exciting to see what the band new creative directions the band expands their sound into next.

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TIGER BONES
9:00 p.m. Monday, May 2
Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western
21+, FREE!
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