Tiger'Rosaria'

After an extended absence following 1996's 'We Are Puppets' album, Tiger have finally stopped shining in the woods, put in a bit more practised on their instruments, and, according to recent single 'Friends', got the tarty venom out. This has seen them clean up their sound, if not their clothes or hair, and their previously squawky, rambling noise has been polished up and covered with a veneer that of which even Mr. Sheen would be proud.

Not that this means Tiger have grown out of their droning lo-fi Fall mannerisms, as 'Rosaria' still represents the rabid mental workings of four slightly odd people, although the nearest we get to any sort of realistic insight into the workings of Tiger's collective mind is via 'Speak To Me' – “you want a change of clothes, you want to eat good food, you like to sleep alone, you'd like a record deal" – though this doesn't really supply enough evidence to have them committed just yet.

Fortunately the threatened Eastern promise of current single 'Girl From The Petrol Station' proves to be more cocktail shaker than Kula Shaker, more shaken not stirred than pseudo-mystical turd. 'Candy & Andy' is the tale of a love triangle with confectionary, in the style of a pre-school Velvet Underground, a child-like mantra telling of Dan's love of his two friends, and their candy, which musically revisits the tune of 'I'm In Love With RAF Nurse', but remembers to be polite enough to bring a bottle of wine to the party.

The only bad point on the album is 'Birmingham' - a drawn-out exercise in filling up space which could have been put to much better use, with a sound that is more Bristol than Brum - but on the strength of the rest of 'Rosaria' we can forgive them this one minor indiscretion. Although 'Rosaria' doesn't offer any more gems with such instant pop appeal as 'Race' or 'My Puppet Pal', there's still enough effervescent fizz here to make sure that the Frosties aren't the only thing to bring out the Tiger in you.