Tamer Animals

At the crossroads of U.S. 177 and State Highway 51, in the midst of a vast Mid-western plain, sits Stillwater, Oklahoma, unlikely hometown to a remarkable new band Other Lives and its gifted singer/composer and multi-instrumentalist bandleader, Jesse Tabish. Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Beck’s long-time drummer Joey Waronker, Tamer Animals was written and recorded at Other Lives’ own studio over a period of sixteen months. Interweaving layer upon layer of intricately winding and pulsing orchestrations, Tamer Animals’ eleven tracks enfold listeners in a bounteous panoply of melodies and textures reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s daring Smile period. The term “chamber-pop” readily springs to mind, but Other Lives’ music invokes everything from Philip Glass’ dazzling minimalism to Morricone’s dark epic sweep. The first single off Tamer Animals, “For 12 especially exemplifies the latter: its galloping rhythms conjure a feeling of uneasy expansiveness, a timeless aural sublimity of The Great Plains of the Old West, with nary a saddle or spur in sight. “For 12 has already gotten the thumb’s up from Radiohead and the band also counts Zane Lowe, Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos amongst their burgeoning ranks of avid fans.