Face down they’ve forced us to the floor
Have brought the fight to our front door
They say our lives are over now
I say tonight we show them how
In Bodies, Raleigh’s Tiger Knives deliver a clenched-fist examination of power, propaganda, and endurance. The track recalls the precision and discipline of early Killing Joke—rigid rhythms, urgent vocals, and a mood that feels ready to detonate. It’s less a protest anthem than a clear-eyed look at how conflict and control seep into everyday life.
The band’s roots in American post-punk and industrial music are evident, but they strip the sound of nostalgia. The guitars strike with mechanical intensity, the drums are blunt and insistent, and the synths hum with restrained menace. The production keeps everything tight and functional—there’s no gloss, no sentimentality, just pressure and release. The bass anchors the chaos with a pulse that could fit comfortably alongside What’s THIS For…! or Fire Dances-era Killing Joke.
Lyrically, Bodies surveys the ruins of illusion. Soldiers and civilians share the same ground, the same unease, the same struggle to stay upright. There’s no false hope here—only terse commands and bitter humor. The refrain “we know where we bleed” feels both defiant and resigned, a recognition of shared vulnerability.
Where Ruminations, their pandemic-era debut, explored isolation, this track turns outward toward the systems that profit from conflict. The accompanying video, intercutting atomic test footage with smiling USO dancers, highlights the contradiction between destruction and spectacle—an echo of the media manipulation our post-punk forbears once railed against.
Watch Bodies below:
With Bodies, Tiger Knives demonstrate how post-punk’s lineage of resistance remains relevant. The song’s drive and discipline place them firmly in that tradition—unyielding, focused, and unwilling to look away.
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