It's been a little while since Lubbock's Tiger Splitter last appeared on No Echo, and the Texas hardcore band has been busy since then. Most importantly, they've returned with Raw Approach, a new EP Jonah Payne recorded, mixed, and mastered at Maxwell Audio.
For vocalist James Cordero, the record represents a noticeable step forward from the band's earlier material. "We feel like everything has evolved and taken a big step forward," he tells No Echo. "Musically and lyrically, everyone brought their A-game, and it pushed the songs to a whole new level."
That progression came with plenty of inspiration from the heavier side of hardcore. Cordero points to Bitter End, Iron Age, Foundation, and Trapped Under Ice as particularly influential as Tiger Splitter put the new material together.
But Raw Approach is also very much a West Texas hardcore record. Tiger Splitter brought in a number of friends from the scene for guest spots, including Marcel from Mongrel TX, Jake from Judiciary, Casey from Gorred, Josh from Ivy League TX, Joe from Ozone, and Red. "We wanted the features to showcase the talent and history we have in the scene," Cordero explains.
Having Marcel involved was particularly meaningful since Mongrel TX are no longer active and, according to Cordero, it had been years since he'd appeared on a track. Jake, Casey, and Josh also brought years of West Texas hardcore history to the record, while Tiger Splitter's connection with Ozone grew stronger after the bands spent three days on the road together this past April.
"We wanted to give West Texas a voice because it gets overlooked when thinking about other scenes in Texas," Cordero says. "There's a lot of talent, heart, and passion coming from our area, and we wanted to put it on display."
And if Tiger Splitter needed any further evidence that playing hardcore in West Texas can occasionally be a fucking adventure, they got it on August 28. The band opened a show with Bitter End and Ivy League TX, but things went sideways while Hardside were playing. "It started raining, and then the wind picked up like crazy and it felt like a hurricane," Cordero recalls. "Power went out to the whole block, power lines crashed down, tree branches and street signs were scattered all over."
Needless to say, the show was cut short.
Despite that particular encounter with Mother Nature, Tiger Splitter have plenty ahead of them. They'll play Flyover Fest in Oklahoma City this November and hope to venture outside Texas more often, with the possibility of a tour next year.
Cordero also gave us a lengthy list of newer bands worth checking out, including Contritus, Fahrenheit, Casual Dreamer, Downtime TX, Nemesis, Ozone, Mass Appeal, Limit of Destruction, Spit My Rage, Defcon 1, Worst Behavior, Hardside, False Front, Thru the Ashes, Inner Self, Fear of Loss, Samadhi, Gorred, Straight Forward, Reinforce, Warning Shot, Stacy Glow, Counterfire, Ridgefield, and Realms Of Death. He also singled out recent material from Shogun, Echo Chamber, Judiciary, and Division of Mind.
As for the EP's title, there's more behind it than a description of Tiger Splitter's music.
"We called the EP 'Raw Approach' because that's how you should handle any problem: head-on," Cordero explains. "Take control and make your life what you want. Be who you are for you and no one else. Life gets hard, but we must persevere and push on for better days."
***
Raw Approach is out now.
Tiger Splitter on social media: Instagram
Tagged: tiger splitter
