Tigercub

Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Jamie Hall, the Brighton-based power trio Tigercub fuses alternative rock, post-grunge, punk, and stoner metal into a dense, maximalist hard-rock sound all its own. Following several well-received EPs, the group delivered its commanding debut album, Abstract Figures in the Dark, in 2016. Two years later the introspective yet equally heavy As Blue as Indigo arrived, succeeded in 2023 by the bracing Perfume of Decay—the band’s first release on Loosegroove Records.

Hall and drummer James Allix formed Tigercub in 2011 while studying at university in Brighton; bassist Jimi Wheelwright completed the lineup the following year. The self-released 2013 EP Hands introduced their punchy art-metal style, which merged Muse-inspired scope with Queens of the Stone Age heft alongside brash yet melodic indie and alternative rock. After supporting Royal Blood on the latter’s 2014 U.K. tour, Tigercub signed with Venn Records and issued the Repressed Semantics EP in 2015. Issued on the British indie Alcopop! in 2016, the punk- and grunge-leaning full-length Abstract Figures in the Dark earned positive notices both domestically and overseas. A short hiatus followed the 2017 EP Evolve or Die, during which Hall concentrated on his pop-rock side project Nancy.

Tigercub resurfaced in 2021 with the U.K.-charting sophomore album As Blue as Indigo. Released via Blame Records, the set found Hall and his bandmates confronting mental health, death, and toxic masculinity while amplifying the sonic weight of earlier work. Their third long-player, the hard-hitting Perfume of Decay, continued that trajectory and appeared in 2023 on Loosegroove Records, the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard and Brad drummer Regan Hagar.