The Tiger Lillies

IT'S impossible to put The Tiger Lillies in a box since they'd probably just break out and savage everyone in sight. Based in London, the three-piece band has gained an enthusiastic cult following on the alternative cabaret circuit for songs about the underworld, vicious humour, a unique sound and brilliant words presented with passion and panache.

The front man is the hugely talented Martyn Jacques who writes most of the band's music and lyrics, plays accordion and sings in a unique self-taught operatic style which combines the squeakiness of Jimmy Clitheroe with the plummy diction of Noel Coward. The words and accordion lines ride on an excellent rhythm laid down by hugely inventive double bass player Adrian Stout and percussionist Adrian Huge who has a brilliant, subtle touch to his time-keeping.

My first encounter with the music of The Tiger Lillies was in 1997 when I was lent a copy of their 1996 album The Brothel To The Cemetery which was making a lot of waves thanks to a song called Banging In The Nails in which an executioner sings with great satisafaction:

"I'm crucifying Jesus, banging in the nails,
And I am so happy because old Jesus failed.
I'm crucifying Jesus, nail him to the cross,
The poor old bastard bleeds to death and I don't give a toss."

And later on:

"You see that crown of thorns upon his head? Well that was my idea!
I think I might be going to Hell. Ohhhhhhh dear!"

However, there's a more reflective but no less dark side in the following track, a waltz called Sailors:

"And the sailors, they sing sad songs about the sea which eats them whole
And the sailors, they sing sad songs, food for fishes shoals.
And the wind, it blows in them and the death you can smell
Smashed on rocks and smashed on boulders, smashed in living hell."

Since this 1996 release, the band has undertaken two very interesting collaborations: a theatre adaptation of Shockheaded Peter which won two awards and The Gorey End, based on the writing of Edward Gorey which was recorded in collaboration with the ever-experimental Kronos Quartet.

These "serious" collaborations are unified by a the theme of death, gore and misfortune and remarkable musicianship.

There is a distinct air of maturity about the band's 2000 recording Circus Songs which sees a distinct departure of the punk-folk style of Banging In The Nails. In this collection, Martyn Jacques takes the listener through the underworld of the fairground, describing a showman with a story for every hideous scar on his body, the 'best' freakshow in town, best because it offers 'the worst around' and as for the ringmaster. . .

"The boss drinks like an unblocked drain,
His wife is stupid, ugly, vain,
They're so broke they should elope to Spain"

This is a remarkable band which has made considerable waves in intelligent music circles, with any luck the future promises much, much more.

Suggested Listening

Circus Songs

The Gorey End

The Brothel to the Cemetery

Tiger Lillies Sites

The band now has a wonderful, detailed site constructed by bass player Adrian Stout at www.tigerlillies.com

There is also a delightful site dedicated to the award-winning adaptation of Shockheaded Peter