Florida indie rockers P.M. Tiger help celebrate The End of SCAD Bash at El Rocko
No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks.
School is about to be out of session and El Rocko Lounge, 117 Whitaker St., is helping burnt-out college students celebrate with an End of SCAD Bash featuring Florida bands P.M. Tiger and Rohna, along with Savannah’s The Maxines and Neckromance.
Headliners P.M. Tiger are longhaired, mustachioed indie rockers from Tampa, Florida. The band consists of brothers Jordan Rosenberg (vocals/guitar) and Joshua Rosenberg (keys/vocals), as well as John Bruno (lead guitar/vocals), Adam Kennedy (drummer), and Panda (bass). P.M. Tiger just released their latest single, “Love 40,” which finds the band leaning harder than ever into effervescent pop hooks and sunny melodies.
“It’s so cool how tight we are now as a band and how good we’re communicating. It makes it so much easier, the writing process, to have that trust and to know that you can really challenge each other and that it’s not personal."
Adam Kennedy, drummer, P.M. Tiger
“Jordan, our singer and principal songwriter, has really gone through a pretty big evolution in the last year, not only with the P.M. stuff he’s writing, but in exploring other music that he’s listened to and trying to peel apart why it’s so good, and what we’re connecting to, and try to see if we can work that into our own process,” said Kennedy. “With ‘Love 40,’ this was one of the first ones where we felt like we had a pop song right out of the gate when we were writing it.”
Kennedy added, “It’s so cool how tight we are now as a band and how good we’re communicating. It makes it so much easier, the writing process, to have that trust and to know that you can really challenge each other and that it’s not personal. Ultimately, making the song the best you can is the only goal, and I think we really accomplished that with this song.”
P.M. Tiger have a knack for infectious guitar and synth-driven indie rock as demonstrated on their 2022 debut album, “My Love Music.” If listeners hear an uncanny similarity to a certain legendary New York band on that record it’s because it was produced by Gordon Raphael who recorded The Strokes’ first three albums.
“Love 40” was produced by Florida producer Austin Coupe, who is better known for working with metalcore and post-rock bands, but seems to know exactly how to bring the best out of P.M. Tiger’s songs.
“I think we’re going to be with him for a long time,” said Kennedy. “He’s just so talented as a producer and we love working with him. His process is so engaging and we get such good results.”
“Love 40” doesn’t necessarily mark a new pop-oriented direction for P.M. Tiger. Their catalog includes straight ahead alternative rock, as well as synth-pop, and the band revels in both styles.
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“We like both and are capable of writing a lot of different things in that spectrum,” said Kennedy. “I think for us it’s, ‘What are we feeling in that moment?’ ‘What is really working when we’re playing live?’ I think the Savannah show is really going to be an interesting test because not only are we going to be playing ‘Love 40’ for an audience, but we going to be playing a new one that’s not even released yet.
“We always try to use the combination of what we think the band is and what the audience tells us the band is and see where the marriage is. If ‘Love 40’ comes out and everyone is infatuated with that and looking for more of the same, I think we’ll probably lean more into that side of what we do, but I know that most of the guys in the band outside of Josh have heavier backgrounds, so we’re always itching to really rip out the rock side and really get people going.”
Also on the bill
P.M. Tiger are bringing along their friends Rohna from Tampa. Rohna is an alternative indie rock band that dance along the spectrum between soaring alt-rock, punk, and hazy psychedelia. Their latest single “Into the Light” works in some of the same types of sparkling synths and funky bass lines as P.M. Tiger’s new offering. Rohna are known for their “electric stage presence,” and have a highly anticipated new EP on the way.
Savannah’s The Maxines are an all female band that features AJ Grey (vocals), Bero Bero’s Veronica Garcia-Melendez (bass), and twins Coco (drums) and Maddie (guitar) Oke. They are known for their moody, angsty grunge rock (with a kiss of metal) and killer live performances.
Neckromance is Ava Foster (vocals), Derek Callen (guitar/bass/drums), Chris Felo (drums), and Jake Seres (bass/guitar). They’re music swims in a bloody pool of grunge and alternative rock with dark gothic vibes.
If You Go >>
What: P.M. Tiger, The Maxines, Rohna, Neckromance
When: 8 p.m., May20
Where: El Rocko Lounge, 117 Whitaker St.
Cost: $12
Info: coastalrocksavannah.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Florida indie rockers P.M. Tiger The End of SCAD Bash at El Rocko
