I have been living with the new disc from Track a Tiger for a few weeks now, and I find myself returning to it again and again. A caveat: I'm friends with band leader Jim Vallet, having watched him in the Iowa City bands that he willingly mentions in the TAT bio (Head Candy) and those he doesn't (Devastation Wagon, Peterbuilt, et al). Jim wrote one of Head Candy's sweetest songs, "Part of the Earth," but who knew he was capable of this?

Track a Tiger's Woke Up Early the Day I Died is a really solid collection of songs. Most wouldn't be out of place on a playlist made up of Low, Ida, and other slowcore boy-girl bands, while there seems to be a bit of the Vulgar Boatmen's sweet, quiet pop in the mix as well. Jim shares many lead vocals with Kristina Castaneda throughout to create a rather fetching batch of harmonies. Couple that with his strong songwriting, and the result is one of the best discs I've heard in this young year.

The band offers three mp3s on its site that provide a good sense of what it can do:

Glad to Be Scattered
Sound as Ever
Seashaken Heart

A fourth, "Happy," is available on the band's MySpace page. While this offers a good chunk of Woke Up Early..., there is plenty more of quality to be heard on the disc.

A reworked version of the band heard on the disc plans to play out, including a May show here in Iowa City that I hope to catch.