| Tiger Trap | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | May 25, 1993 [1] |
| Recorded | 1993 |
| Genre | |
| Label | K |
| Producer | Calvin Johnson |
Tiger Trap is the only album released by the band Tiger Trap. It was released in 1993 on K Records and was produced by Calvin Johnson. With about 10,000 copies sold, it was K Records' best-selling album until they released Beck's One Foot in the Grave the following year. [2]
Along with twee pop, Tiger Trap is musically aligned with "energetic" indie pop [3] and "romantic" punk-pop.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Billboard | (favorable) [4] |
| Robert Christgau |  [5] |
The Chicago Tribune opined that "terrific three-part harmonies and a brace of killer melodies make Tiger Trap one of the year's more consistently pleasurable albums." [6]
In 2014, Andrew Earles called the album "quintessential", and wrote that Tiger Trap "packed each song with at least one pop hook." [7]
Retrospectively, Tiger Trap has been held up as one of twee pop's most essential releases. In an 2005 essay called "Twee as Fuck", Pitchfork 's Nitsuh Abebe "highly recommended" the album and highlighted two of its tracks, "Puzzle Pieces" and "My Broken Heart". [8] In 2014, The A.V. Club 's Paula Mejia dubbed it a "Possible gateway" into the genre. [9] The following year, the site's Jason Heller wrote that the album "embodies twee," but added that "it’s also a forceful, potent, consummately melodic complement to the more strident sounds of riot grrrl that were raging around them at the time." [10]
On a 2013 Complex list, Trap placed No. 40 out of indie rock's 50 best albums of the 1990s. Writer Philip Cosores saw its impact carry into numerous later groups like Allo Darlin', Veronica Falls, Colleen Green and Swearin'. [11] Writing for The Stranger in 2016, Sean Nelson credited it with "set[ting] the aesthetic standard for NW indie pop forever after." [12]
| Publication | Type | List | Year | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decade-end | The Best Indie Rock Albums of the '90s | 2013 | 40 | ||
The 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the '90s | 2022 | -- | |||
| "--" indicates an unordered list. | |||||
Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 NME compilation C86. Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence. Some of its defining features are boy-girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love. For many years, prominent independent record labels associated with twee pop were Sarah Records and K Records.
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
Indie pop is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and subsequently generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Compared to its counterpart, indie rock, the genre is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free. In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings. Subgenres include chamber pop and twee pop.
Independent music is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by independent record labels. Indie music describes a number of related styles, but generally describes guitar-oriented music straying away from mainstream conventions. There are a number of subgenres of independent music which combine its characteristics with other genres, such as indie pop, indie rock, indie folk, and indie electronic.
Signal to Snow Ratio is an EP by American indie rock band Grandaddy. It was released in 1999 by record label V2.
Jamboree is the second album by American indie rock band Beat Happening, released in 1988 through K Records and Rough Trade Records. All songs were produced by Steve Fisk with assistance from Screaming Trees members Mark Lanegan and Gary Lee Conner, except "Cat Walk," produced by Patrick Maley, and "The This Many Boyfriends Club," recorded live by Rich Jensen.
Rose Melberg is a musician and songwriter from Sacramento, California, currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has performed both as a solo artist and as a member of Tiger Trap, The Softies, Go Sailor, Gaze, Gigi, Imaginary Pants, Brave Irene, Knife Pleats and Olivia's World.
Don't Wake Me Up is the debut studio album by American musical project the Microphones. It was released by K Records on August 24, 1999, and reissued on vinyl via P.W. Elverum & Sun on April 16, 2013. The album was recorded between April 25, 1998, and March 1, 1999, in studios in Olympia and Anacortes, Washington.
Tullycraft is an American indie pop band from Seattle, Washington, that formed in 1995. They have been associated with the genre of twee pop; in fact, they are considered to be one of the true pioneers of the American twee pop movement. They are known for their DIY ethic, only releasing albums on independently owned and operated record labels.
Just for a Day is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.
Pygmalion is the third studio album by English rock band Slowdive, released on 6 February 1995 by Creation Records. It was the group's final album before their disbandment in 1995 and then reformation in 2014, and their only album with Ian McCutcheon, who had replaced Simon Scott on drums.
Awful Mess Mystery is the debut album by indie rock band Wolfie, released in 1998 via Mud Records. In a 2005 article on indie pop, Pitchfork Media's Nitsuh Abebe referred to it as "an insanely good record that hardly anyone likes" and "one of the best albums of the nineties."
Vampire Weekend is the debut studio album by American rock band Vampire Weekend, released on January 29, 2008 by XL Recordings. The album was produced by band member Rostam Batmanglij, with mixing assistance from Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback. Released after a year of building internet buzz, the album showcased the band's unique hybrid of indie pop, chamber music, and Afropop influences.
Old Traditions, New Standards is the debut album from the Washington-based indiepop band Tullycraft. In 2022, Old Traditions, New Standards was included on Pitchfork's list of The 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the '90s.
Silver Apples of the Moon is the debut studio album by the English band Laika. It was released on 17 October 1994 by Too Pure.
Complete Recordings is a 1999 compilation album by the indie pop band Black Tambourine. Despite its title, it does not actually contain the complete recordings of the band. The later album Black Tambourine featured six additional tracks, thus replacing this album.
Imperial f.f.r.r. is the sixth studio album by Washington, D.C. indie rock band Unrest, released on March 16, 1992 by No.6 Records and TeenBeat Records.
New Brigade is the debut album by Danish punk rock band Iceage.
"100,000 Fireflies" is the first single by the American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, taken from their first studio album Distant Plastic Trees, released in 1991. It is known for its bleak, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and black humour and for Susan Anway's sparse, soprano vocal performance. The song saw play on alternative and college radio stations on its release and slowly grew into a cult classic, becoming "the ultimate staple" of indie mixtape culture during the 1990s.
P.U.N.K. Girl, also known as Atta Girl in the UK, is an EP by British twee pop band Heavenly, released by K Records on 11 July 1995. In 2005, Pitchfork Media's Nitsuh Abebe wrote that it was "so bouncy and full of hooks that it can take a while to notice it's kind of a concept record about date rape." This release combines the band's 1993 singles P.U.N.K. Girl and Atta Girl, which were released on Sarah Records.
