1. Collapse
2. Human Behavior
3. Little Thing
4. Take On Me
5. Aberdeen 21
6. Desert
7. Back
8. Contre Moi
9. Maximum
10. Boost 07
11. 悲 (Sadness)
12. Chipie
The best way to describe this album would most likely have to be a potpourri of beautiful noise. A haunting introduction with anguished vocals on ‘Collapse’ progressing towards an alternative approach to A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ and slowly finishing with a traditional sounding Chinese melody on the Er Wu, it is clear that Joul wanted T.I.N.N.S to express twelve very different stories, all on just one album. Nowadays, CDs are all about the concept – you don’t see many bands releasing a record with tracks that are almost polar opposites in terms of sound. However, Dr. Eggs defies that rule.
Using my six years worth of French learnt, I “decoded” ‘Desert’ and ‘Contre Moi’ to find lyrics that sounds rather poetic. The dissonant, unrefined guitar work in ‘Contre Moi’ (‘Against Me’ in English) and ‘Human Behavior’ remind me vaguely of My Chemical Romance’s first album – ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’ – emotionally powered, with a rougher quality to it. Maybe that isn’t such a great comparison though – Dr. Eggs to My Chemical Romance – it’s no contest that Dr. Eggs’s material is more into its prime.
The introductory track, ‘Collapse’, bears real feelings – a thick, genuine remorse. It’s almost like this track was deliberately chosen as track one because of the way it drops you into a distant land with a dark smoky type atmosphere. The background noises and white noise during the middle of the piece sound like feet shuffling among crunchy leaves, and the alternating between speed, vocal effects and guitar riffs, sound like a number of different encounters sure to evoke memories of childhood bumps in the night.
While the three tracks I just mentioned bared and focused on emotion, Boost 07 cooks up a curiously radial tune with an eclectic mix of electronic effects, jazz elements and a fast-paced drum beat.
T.I.N.N.S continues to grow increasingly committed to thought, discovery and experiment as each song introduces its own environment and individual story. If you’re ready for thirty-five minutes of hard-hitting variety, go pick up a copy of Dr. Eggs’ album.
– Chloe Cheng
