This was suppose to be a nice loving review of their new CD that was in stores yesterday, I tried on Monday and again yesterday and apparently my host was having problems and I couldn’t access my site and blahblahblah.

So now I’m in a rush and need to fire something up/off so this is what it is.

Here’s a link to their report card from NXNE 91

They have some shows in town this week as well – good time for them, to be coming to town same week as their release – they should be pumped and hopefully a good crowd is out to see them.

Joi and I will definitely be in attendance at the Attic show as From Here To There’s Myles Deck and the Fuzz will be opening!!

Their CD is pretty rockin’ – Wolfmother comparisons are unavoidable – but I have even higher expectations for the show itself. I’m expecting C”Mon/Nashville Pussy levels of rock [if their NXNE report card is any indication I won't be let down].

Pride Tiger to Play Two Shows in Halifax Saturday June 23rd

(Halifax, NS) – British Columbia’s Pride Tiger will be playing two shows in Halifax on Saturday June 23rd. The band is part of the Skate Park Grand Opening event (Ride in the Park) at the new commons skate park. The festivities get under way outside of The Pavilion building at the new park at 5PM. The second show is a 19+ show at The Attic with Folds of Policy and Myles Deck & the Fuzz which gets underway at 11PM.

Pride Tiger is: Sunny Dhak (Guitar), Matt Wood (Vocals, Drums), Bob Froese (Guitar, Backup Vocals), Mike Payette (Bass, Backup Vocals)

Vancouver’s Pride Tiger is four guys linked by a record collection, a real record collection, as in vinyl, and a shared love of music from the seventies.

On their self-titled debut for EMI Music Canada, produced, engineered and mixed by Matt Hyde (Slayer, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu), they modernize the glorious 70’s rock style, resulting in 13 songs that are powerful, sweaty, hooky, suitably head-banging and one big party. No need to dress up or wash your hair. Songs like “Let Em Go,” Long Way Down,” “What It Is,” “Fill Me In” and “Forget Everything” are all that’s needed.

See, three of the band members — drummer/vocalist Matt Wood and guitarists Bob Froese and Sunny Dhak — used to be in the highly respected, still-going-strong metal act 3 Inches of Blood, and Mike Payette was in S.T.R.E.E.T.S, but something wasn’t ringing true for them. “I just felt like it wasn’t gonna be it for me,” says Wood. “I really loved 3 Inches of Blood and loved those guys, but it wasn’t fulfilling enough playing in a heavy metal band.”

Froese, Payette, and Dhak first met Wood when he played in Goatsblood and they all lived together in a “crazy old dirty punk house.” It was there that they marveled over each other’s record collections. “I don’t even listen to CDs,” says Wood. “As you can tell, there aren’t many people like us around. We started trading records. ‘Have you heard of this band?’ Then, we were like, ‘We have to start a band.’ We’d just sit around and drink and talk records.”

They also wrote music, with Dhak emerging as the main songwriter. They were going to add a singer, but couldn’t find one, so Wood stepped in — or sat in. He didn’t plan on relinquishing the drums.

Doing double duty behind the kit, Wood had to learn where to place the vocal so that it didn’t get lost in the music or didn’t trip him up as he played. “I just call it cheating. You just have to map out where you’re going to sing ‘cause sometimes it’s impossible to sing over certain things. I think it made for something that’s original. No one else is writing the vocal lines and the melodies, so I started off doing what I could do well while I was playing. It’s really not that hard, just takes extra practice.”

Dhak says he didn’t adjust his writing style to accommodate a drummer who sings. “I don’t really think about that. He’s pretty competent at being able to do both things at the same time. I try and write around vocal melodies, so I’ll write a lead line that I think is like a vocal melody, and then I’ll write a rhythm behind it and I’ll leave the lead out, and usually the vocals end up sounding similar to that.”

In 2005, Pride Tiger started playing parties, particularly at Bloodstone Press, the screen printing company that they ran. Soon, they added local shows which drew line-ups outside. As word spread of Pride Tiger and industry interest was raised, they continued to write songs in their beloved seventies vein and also took a detour to NXNE in June to showcase. By the summer, the band signed with EMI Music Canada and did a day’s worth of phone calls with producers to source out the best fit for their major label debut. “Right off the bat, Matt Hyde had good criticism,” recalls Wood. “He wanted me to sing more. A lot of stuff that’s written is Sunny’s. He’s an excellent guitar player and his parts are jam-packed and we needed to “dumb it down” a bit, make stuff that I could sing over. So Matt said, ‘We’ve got to get you singing and we’ve got to simplify some things.’”

Beginning in mid-October, Pride Tiger spent two months with Hyde in Los Angeles at Sunset Lodge studio. There were seven songs — including “56 Days,” “Fill Me In,” and “Long Way Down” — the band hadn’t finished and had to hammer into shape there. Hyde was instrumental at helping trim and arrange the songs. “I felt really good about that because it’s basically just constructive criticism,” says Dhak. “He pushes you to do the best you can do, so I like that. He knows a lot about music theory, so that really helped out. I’m an ear player, but he’s trained and he’s a guitar player as well. He owns all these old vintage guitars, like 50’s and 60’s Gibson’s and brought a semi-truck full of gear.”

Wood says he started pushing himself lyrically. “The seven new songs are stuff that’s gone on with me over the past year. I had a good inspirational period.”

Pride Tiger Saturday June 23rd @ Ride In the Park (Grand Opening of the Commons Skate Park) – FREE Outdoor Show – 5PM – All Ages

19+ Show at The Attic @ 11PM

Other dates:
Sunday June 24th – End of School BBQ – Coldbrook, NS – Coldbrook Lions Hall (All Ages) with: The End, Threat Signal, others – $12 Door / 4PM

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For More Information on Pride Tiger, please check out the following websites:
Pride Tiger – www.pridetiger.com or www.myspace.com/pridetiger

For Pride Tiger Media Inquiries:
Marc Perry
EMI Music Canada
(902) 434-5661
Marc.Perry@emimusic.ca