Album Review

Tigercub: Nets to Catch the Wind review

Words by The Pit Standard

Tigercub have never been a band to do things quietly. The Brighton trio deal in thick basslines, abrasive guitar tones and choruses built to hit hard, but their fourth album, Nets to Catch the Wind, is at its best when they look beyond the sheer weight of their sound.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Released on 10 April via Loosegroove Records, the twelve-track album follows 2023’s The Perfume of Decay, trading some of that record’s darker intensity for a sound that feels more open without losing its bite. Produced by Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios, it gives Jamie Stephen Hall, Jimi Wheelwright and James Allix room to stretch out. The results are often impressive, although the album occasionally mistakes a bigger chorus for a better song.

‘Silver Smile’ sets the tone with a creeping introduction before the guitars arrive in force. It leads neatly into ‘Fall In Fall Out’, one of the album’s strongest tracks, where a restless guitar line and a forceful rhythm section build towards a release that feels earned rather than inevitable. There is a sharpness to the arrangement that makes the song more than another exercise in volume.

‘I’m Breaking Out’ is similarly direct, driven by a muscular riff and Hall’s increasingly urgent vocal. Tigercub know how to make this kind of alternative rock land, balancing melody with enough grit to stop the songs becoming too comfortable. ‘A Black Moon’ is a more interesting proposition, using its bassline to build tension before breaking into a heavier final section. It shows the band understand the value of restraint, even if they don't always exercise it.

That instinct is tested across the album’s middle stretch. ‘Head Over Heels’ moves from a subdued vocal into a towering chorus, while the six-minute ‘Nightmares’ takes a more drawn-out approach, layering its atmosphere before descending into distortion. Both have their moments, but the repeated movement between quiet passages and explosive guitar work starts to feel predictable. When the same dynamic appears across several tracks, the impact inevitably diminishes.

‘My Paper Heart’ provides some welcome contrast. Its softer opening and more spacious arrangement allow Hall’s vocals to take precedence, revealing a melodic sensibility that can get buried beneath the guitars elsewhere. It is one of the album’s most convincing moments because the band resist the temptation to make every section bigger than the last.

The twelve-second ‘Golden Sands’ is little more than a brief pause before ‘Magic Sleep’ restores the momentum. Later, ‘Cut The Eyes Out Of The Photographs’ brings in Clutch frontman Neil Fallon, whose spoken-word contribution adds a different texture to the band’s sound. His presence gives the track a distinct identity, rather than simply providing another guest appearance to advertise.

Closer ‘Sadness, Don’t You Worry’ returns to the album’s familiar mix of melancholy and heavy release. It is an effective conclusion, though it also reinforces the sense that Tigercub have found a formula they are not yet entirely willing to challenge.

Nets to Catch the Wind is a strong record from a band increasingly confident in its own sound. Hall’s guitar work and vocals remain compelling, the rhythm section provides a solid foundation, and the best songs have enough character to stand apart from the sheer volume. The issue is consistency: too many tracks rely on the same structural tricks, leaving the second half with less impact than the opening run.

Tigercub have the riffs, the atmosphere and the songwriting instincts to make a genuinely exceptional alternative rock album. Here, those elements produce something frequently exciting but occasionally too familiar. A little more variation would have taken it further, but there is plenty here to recommend.

Artist: Tigercub