Neko Case has spoken, and it appears she didn’t get the memo. Live albums—at least the majority of the ones I have purchased over the last ten or so years—are supposed to be rush jobs, unchallenging projects that one puts together for the sake of keeping their listeners busy. They slop together the best and worst moments of a summer tour and hope for the best (remember Pink Floyd’s Pulse, you know that one with the blinking light?). Most of all, live albums are released when one does not have anything new or better to offer—they could easily be called, “greatest hits with a different cover and different set of liner notes.” Gimmicks, rip-offs, whatever you want to call them, live albums aren’t usually the healthy teeth in a mouthful of cavities.
Rest assured, Case’s
The Tigers Have Spoken isn’t your normal live album.
Recorded mostly at a few shows in Chicago and Toronto with the Sadies and Jon Rauhouse, Tigers roars out of the gate with one of the two “new” songs featured on the album, “If You Knew.” Case’s vocals are smartly featured from the start as her strong pipes continue to carry a collection of cover songs, including Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Soulful Shade of Blue” and Catherine Irwin’s “Hex.” The latter is a stunner—so heartfelt and perfect that it would probably bring tears to Irwin’s eyes. I’m still wondering how it was captured so beautifully as a live track—let’s just say Neko must have been “on” that night.
Just as impressive on this 35-minute adventure is another short new tune, “The Tigers Have Spoken.” Clocking in at 2 minutes and 42 seconds, the title track is an infectious song about a crazy, quarantined tiger, one likely that you’ll play over and over again. I know that sounds delusional, but Case pulls it off.
Maybe the only hiccup is the performance of “Favorite,” Case’s first song that she ever wrote from start to finish. Until now the song was only available on the tour-only disc, Canadian Amp. Often picked to open each Neko Case show, it’s the only number on this disc that makes you say, “Guess you had to be there.” Don’t get me wrong—I love the song—I just don’t prefer how slow it comes across on Tigers.
But I’ll stop being negative, because this disc deserves better. Perhaps the best thing I can say about
Tigers is that it’s a great place to start if you’re unfamiliar with Case’s music. And for her die hard fans out there, her fast train isn’t slowing down. So by all means, take her with you.
