Pull Tiger Tail - Animator / Even Good Kids Make Bad Sports / L'animateur (Young and Lost Club)

‘Greatness in music writing cannot survive on repetition alone'- or so the 10 Indie Commandments say. Well, consider Pull Tiger Tail ultimate sinners, because they have broken this holy rule and come out on top smelling of roses. In Animator , the guys have managed to produce an entire chorus out of one word. This is amazing, because A: when you see them live you'll know all the words and look cool, and B: it leaves more room for you to think about other things like what kind of choreographed shapes you could be throwing to this quirky track (marching is recommended if you have limited space). Yes, lead singer Marcus does have a certain Barry Hyde from Futureheads twang to his voice, but this fits the clipped short verse. Animator breaks down in the middle for some oohs and aahs, but this part does not last long enough for us to lose interest and swiftly wins us back for a crescendo build up of the ever-catchy chorus. It's neatly wrapped art-rock you'll be humming along to in no time at all.

The fine art of winning and losing is mulled over in this complementary B-side track to Animator. A twinkling keyboard is the backbone- decorated with childlike key-plonking combined with sweet progressive scales and arpeggios that may have been learnt in a first piano lesson. The Pull Tiger Tail gang knock this one out with gentle passion and purpose. The track is bought to life with optimistic electronic ditties and a tambourine, plus there is an essence of Maximo Park urgency here. The trio captures us with unique, well-sung verse demonstrating a whimsical story, rather than just an easy-listening track. The song is so unfussy it verges on unmemorable- but at least the amiable melody will make you smile for the duration.

B Side Two - L'animateur

Best listen to this one whilst dancing down the disco- it's in French. However, the language barrier does little to dispel us from this catchy little version. It shows us the band are not only multi-talented at playing a variety of instruments that make even the most hardened music-lover go giddy at the knees and start thrashing around, but they have the brain power to actually sing in another language. What clever dicks! In the word of Tony the Tiger- they have certainly earned their stripes. Did you skip French lessons to go play Pokémon cards behind the bike sheds? Never mind- the chorus is exactly the same as the original. This means you can belt it out by heart whether you are stiff-upper lipped or wear a string of onions round your neck on a day-to-day basis.

Tasha Anderson