We hedged our bets and toed the line
I guess you were right, nothing ever lasts
You tried to convince me we’d be fine
Now I forget to mourn the past
Tiger Knives might sound like something you’d order from a sketchy late-night infomercial, but Raleigh’s punchy post-punk outfit has been sharpening their edges quietly (and impressively) since 2019. Formed by Jake Craven and Brandon Howell, the band quickly grew from a scrappy two-person operation into a full-throttle quartet, serving up slices of feral, finely tuned alt-rock fury with an undeniable wink and nod to their goth-tinged predecessors.
The video for Snake Eyes, a track off of their 2023 Ruminations LP, is wrapped in chorus-drenched guitars that wouldn’t feel out of place on an old Killing Joke record, bolstered by synth lines spikier than Robert Smith’s hair circa 1983. Tiger Knives are deft at balancing angular precision with the snarling heft reminiscent of Type O Negative and early Deftones. But instead of simply paying tribute, they twist these threads into something fresh, punchy, and playfully moody. It’s heavy music that hums.
Lyrically, this cut isn’t exactly a breezy summer jam; it reads like an affectionate eulogy to a romance that’s crashed and burned. The song manages to capture the nagging ache of relationships slowly evaporating, as hope grudgingly gives way to reality. The resignation hangs thick, yet oddly comforting, like finding old letters hidden away in a box, realizing things ended exactly as everyone predicted, but somehow you’re still surprised.
The video is a beautifully chaotic black-and-white reel that ricochets between North Carolina’s familiar highways, moody tunnels, forgotten bridges, and glimpses of Tokyo. Interspersed shots of the band rehearsing lend it an affectionate vintage-tour-video vibe, like digging through a forgotten VHS stash labeled “TK Road Trip ‘89.” It’s grainy nostalgia seasoned with modern existential musings, the kind you vaguely recall after falling asleep in front of late-night cable.
Watch the video for “Snake Eyes” below:
Tiger Knives have locked onto a frequency that’s disarmingly sincere…think goth nostalgia tangled up with indie-rock jitters. Their debut LP, Ruminations, landed in 2023 courtesy of Bleeding Ghost Records, born out of lockdown’s nervous energy and cabin fever. The record bristles with tense, coiled-up tracks, capturing isolation’s frayed nerves and frantic yearnings for escape. Post-release, the band swelled into a full four-piece assault team, turbocharging their live-wire sound into something delightfully unhinged and wonderfully unpredictable.
Listen to Snake Eyes below and order Ruminations here.
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