Daniel Striped Tiger

Daniel Striped Tiger's second full-length, Condition shows a band playing a unique brand of frenetic, angular post-hardcore, as seemingly seen through a jazz filter. It's certainly nodding to the roots -- not neccessarily the seeds -- of the Dischord catalog, but in new and fresh ways. Think a somewhat less intense but more talented and even artier Stop It!!

While the band might draw its largest influence from the Nation of Ulysses, that influence in question usually separated their hardcore/post-hardcore freakouts from the free jazz sessions, while DST seem to more often combine the two into one largely off-kilter but still palatable package. Chords richochet like stray bullets in "Slalom" and "Beeves & Elthake (Born Into This)" while the jumpy main vocalist of the band yells lines over the progressions, while interludes like "Good Luck in Surgery" work well in serving up lost-in-space instrumentals. Sporadic horns pop up around these parts of the record to add to the scene setting in.

A frequent dabbling in atmospherics further takes the record down interesting courses, but things tend to drag out a bit; even at the album's 33-minute running time, it seems some tracks could benefit from cutting back on a few seconds' worth of construction. The centerpiece of the record, "The Untuned Piano in the Assembly Hall," crescendos quite well with slow picking to its midpoint of lightly crashing drums and wandering guitars, but would've had the same effect had its buildup been, say, 15 seconds shorter seemingly. "Your Birthday (Cake)" contains awesomely fluid tempo changes, but seems to float off the map with its repetitive closing chord structure only to be pulled back in by the manic yelps of the quick "Rough Cut."

Clustered, sure, but Condition is one of promise and profundity.

MP3
Little Things We've Collected and Treasured