Audio CD review:
Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay

Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay

Band: Saint Etienne Title: Tiger Bay Rating: Release Date: 28 June, 1994 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Urban Clearway 2: Hug My Soul 3: Former Lover 4: Like A Motorway 5: On The Shore 6: Marble Lions 7: Pale Movie 8: Cool Kids On Death 9: I Was Born On Christmas Day 10: Boy Scouts Of America 11: Hug My Soul 12: Like A Motorway

Customer Reviews Hug my soul It is also my first cd I own by the British indie-pop band. Of all the Saint Etienne cds I own, "Tiger Bay" is by far my favorite record. I bought it several years ago through my then Columbia House Music Club account. I immediately loved the often kitschy dance pop I heard on the album. The music is very infectious and upbeat. "Tiger Bay" would eventually lead me to buy more of the group's albums but none of them would be able to hold up to "Tiger Bay". The album kicks off with the killer throbbing instrumental "Urban Clearway". "Hug My Soul" has a '60s retro pop sound. "Former Lover" is a delicate, fragile ballad. The beat quickly picks up with "Like a Motorway". One of my personal favorite songs on the album is the shimmering "Pale Movie". It is also one of my favorite dance songs of all time. I just love the melodies of the song as well as Sarah's vocals. I also love the fusion of flamenco guitars with dance beats. My other favorite song on the album is "I Was Born on Christmas Day". If there was one thing that Saint Etienne had a knack for it is churning out some of the catchiest pop songs I have ever heard. Just like one of their songs, listening to "Tiger Bay" hugs my soul. I find it very comforting to listen to. I just wish pop music was more like Saint Etienne and less like Britney Spears. Tiger Bay will Hug Your Soul Talk about best track being the first one, though. For Tiger Bay, which I assumed was a nod to the Hayley Mills movie from 1959, Saint Etienne retained its heartfelt ballads made ever so loving by Sarah Cracknell's echoing waifish voice, but its upbeat tracks edged closer to conventional techno without sacrificing their uniqueness that brought them to the spotlight. The throbbing bass in "Urban Clearway" leads to a bass keyboard pulsing like The Miami Vice Theme before being overlayed by a higher-pitched keyboard sound. Then those sweet wistful strings kick in, giving an overall image of traffic going down a six-lane, just like the opening shots of the CHIPS TV show in the 1970's. Call it a shorter dance-techno version of Saturday Night Fever's "Manhattan Skyline," which gives the same mental image. "Hug My Soul" is not only a brilliant song, but has the same bounce as some of their Foxbase Alpha songs, only chirpier and with some lush stringwork. Sarah Cracknell's wispy girlish vocals and the chirpy synthesizers create a bubbly, romantic, fantasy atmosphere, even before she sings: "I'll be there/to run into your arms. /I'll be there. /Won't you hug my soul?" Aww! There's even a marimba solo in the latter part of the song. The alternate version has an even more thundering beat that kind of muffles the lush strings. The tempo switches to the mellow and wistful "Former Lover," with the harmonica lending to the sad regret of marrying a fool while listening to wind chines and the long lost days spent with the title character. Sarah wistfully sings: "Why on Earth/didn't I wait for you?/Now look and see who's paying. " She then makes up her mind to reclaim her life, which has been stifled: "Close all/of the doors, Maisie/make sure he knows I'm gone. /Close down/over the ocean/Open the doors/fresh air. " The same bass synthesizer from "Urban Clearway" returns in the upbeat "Like A Motorway. " Another lost love song, the title refers to this line: "She said her life/was like a motorway/Dull, grey, and long/'til he came along. " The alternate version has different synthesizers and other sounds inserted within. "On The Shore" is an instrumental with mid-paced backbeat, with an oboe courtesy of Kate St. John, late of the Dream Academy. "Marble Lions" is this album's sweet ballad, especially the lines "Stars are calling/goodnight, darling/Don't say good-bye," which lends that sense of longing that "Hobart Paving" from So Tough did. The lines "Let's raise a flag/that has no colours/release the sun into the empty cathedral, yeah" should demonstrate by now Sarah Cracknell's improved songwriting. The emotional swell of sound that arises makes one want to cry out joyfully or burst into tears of joy. A Latin-sound accompanied by the Etienne burst of techno starts "Pale Movie. " One of my favourite upbeat songs here, with an interesting metaphoric image: "In the bed where they make love/she's in a film on the sheets/He shows dreams like a movie/she's the softness of cinema seats. " The Latin guitar that comes in the middle is nice as is the burst of symphonic strings that follow, making it like a movie score. "Cool Kids Of Death" is a quick-paced instrumental with pulsing bass-synth that's a quicker cousin of "Stoned To Say The Least" from Foxbase Alpha. Harmonicas, wordless vocals, synth-pianos, and other instruments are heard in this number. Then comes "I Was Born On Christmas Day," the most joyful burst of sound on Tiger Bay. Sarah trades lines with Tim Burgess over a pounding backbeat that Kylie Minogue would have gnawed both her arms to get during her Stock-Aitken-Waterman days. I imagine a couple dancing blissfully, snow falling down in nice large flakes around them and the city. That is followed by the haunting "Boy Scouts Of America," about the conflict brewing within a man assigned to guard a girl. The best of their first three albums, after which their sound would totally change, but that's for another review. Great Indie Pop/Dance Album Most of the songs are dance-oriented, with a tight drum-machine dance beat, but there are some slow slongs as well. What makes this album great is that everything works together so well. What I really like are Sarah Cracknell's breathy vocals, which are heavenly and contrast very well with the bass and drums. The songs are still pop songs in composition and work very well, but you can also hear influences from various other styles such as drums&bass and techno, and perhaps some early New Order. This album is more refined than "Foxbase Alpha," and is one of my favorites. . You can see a complete list of all Saint Etienne discography, or go back to the Saint Etienne tabs