Feet Like An Imperial Walker

Tiger Tunes “The Walk” – This song would’ve been on the next Tiger Tunes album if…well, if they didn’t just stop being a band sometime over a year ago. The key personnel have moved on to a new band called Beta Satan, but I’ll come back to them another time. Today, I just want to lament the passing of what was most likely the best Danish band of this decade. Or maybe ever. There’s really not a lot of Danish bands that are well known to Americans, so I can’t be certain. Let’s just call this a hunch and chalk it up to well-meaning hyperbole, okay?

Tiger Tunes maintained a balancing act that unfortunately very few bands ever manage. They played hyperactive keyboard-driven new wave without sounding wimpy or self-consciously retro, and basically sounded as though they learned everything they new about playing punk rock music from video games. Their lyrics were witty but full of angst, and even when they sounded like they were about to totally wig out, they didn’t seem as though they were taking themselves very seriously. They respected their emotions and experiences, but clearly regarded them as being inherently absurd. They sang about getting bullied by a “fuckmachine” named Kirsten, attempting to smooth out relationship problems with pancakes, and in this case, a party so awful that it, as they put it, undermined their very existence. It’s easy to hear “The Walk” as a vague explanation for why they called it a day, but who knows. I just wish they at least finished the record, or kept going. It’s too bad, really. (Click here for the official Tiger Tunes website.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with music from Mutual Appreciation, Shortbus, and Stranger Than Fiction.

Also: Mike Barthel on hardcore punk, hardcore porn, Sarah Silverman, conservatism, and transgression.

And: Tom Ewing thinks that recent changes in the Marvel and DC Universes may be tied in with their ambitious MMORPG projects.