New Music: Tiger Island – Find Out Who You Are (And Do It On Purpose)

For a track inspired by a quote from country music icon Dolly Parton, the new single from Tiger Island is a real rock and roll stunner.

The first track to drop from their Let’s Go Out album, this banger from the West Yorkshire quintet hits on a magical formula that captures the leftfield pop vibes of The B-52s, with guitars to the fore and a garage rock sensibility that never quits. The track is true to itself, not surprising, as that is the essence of the song as a whole.

Says the band about the lyrics, “We spend our lives conforming to social codes that aren’t always helpful and can even be harmful. Many of us will waste years chasing other people’s goals and standards, trying to squeeze ourselves into boxes that just don’t fit.”

“This song wonders what happens when we put all of that in the bin and really let go. Who would we become?”

They add about the video, “We’ve always thought of Tiger Island as a place, and this video was a cool opportunity to explore what it might look like – setting the song in a haunted amusement park with a cast of creepy characters, Scooby Doo-style.

“The green screen filming with the band was shot in a day at an old Sainsbury’s unit on the high street in Bingley, West Yorkshire (space graciously lent to us by our friends Ad Blackwood and Jenna Greenwood, aka Mek Summat).

“Fin then spent the next six months hand-building and filming the detailed scenery and monsters at his home in Leeds.”

“The result is an Aardman-esque caper through an abandoned amusement park. The band’s idea of a good laugh goes horribly wrong when they get stuck on a genuinely haunted ghost train and are confronted with horrors including zombie hands (an Oscar-worthy performance from Fin’s son Max), a flame-throwing clown and a mischievous skeleton with a secret identity.”

Let’s Go Out is out on the 19th of June via Reckless Yes. It can be pre-ordered on vinyl and in CD or digital formats on Bandcamp. They hold a launch party at Wharf Chambers in Leeds on the 20th of June; find details on that over on the band’s Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram socials.

Header photo by Danny Payne