{"id":165704,"date":"2026-04-14T19:46:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165704\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T19:46:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:46:06","slug":"between-u-s-tours-scranton-indie-rockers-tigers-jaw-play-free-acoustic-show-at-gallery-of-sound-in-wilkes-barre-on-april-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165704\/","title":{"rendered":"Between U.S. tours, Scranton indie rockers Tigers Jaw play free acoustic show at Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre on April 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a press release<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Wrapping up the first leg of their coast-to-coast U.S. tour, Tigers Jaw<\/a> will return to their hometown area for a free all-ages acoustic show at Gallery of Sound<\/a> in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, April 18.<\/p>\n

The Record Store Day<\/a> celebration begins when doors (186 Mundy St., Wilkes-Barre) open at 8 a.m. to sell all kinds of special releases in limited quantities, followed by free entertainment throughout the afternoon. DJs RandySkillz<\/a> and Joe Nardone Jr.<\/a> will spin vinyl at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Live music from local artists If Kansas Had Trees<\/a>, 1-800 BITCH<\/a>, and Mike Quinn<\/a> starts at 4 p.m., and Tigers Jaw will headline at 6 p.m. with a stripped-down set.<\/p>\n

The Scranton-based indie rock band\u2019s new full-length record, \u201cLost on You,\u201d<\/a> will be among the albums available to purchase on CD and vinyl in both bubblegum pink and blue, so they\u2019ll be sticking around for a meet and greet to sign copies and take pictures with fans before getting back on the road next month with Pool Kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recently released on March 27 via Hopeless Records, their seventh record and follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2021 LP \u201cI Won\u2019t Care How You Remember Me\u201d<\/a> was produced\/engineered by longtime collaborator Will Yip (The Menzingers, Title Fight, Turnstile, Movements) at his famed Studio 4<\/a> in Conshohocken and captures the energy and spirit of the live show the quintet \u2013 Ben Walsh (guitar, vocals), Brianna Collins (keys, vocals), Mark Lebiecki (guitar), Colin Gorman (bass), and Teddy Roberts (drums) \u2013 is known for.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s exhilarating lead single, \u201cHead Is Like a Sinking Stone,\u201d arrived last year alongside a music video<\/a> of tour footage shot by the band throughout the years and edited by Ricky Christian. Originating as a guitar riff written by their newest member Lebiecki and later completed by the band, Walsh noted the lyrics were inspired by a recurring dream from his childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid, I had a strange recurring dream of jumping off the high dive at Nay Aug Park pool in Scranton, and after jumping in, time would just sort of freeze and I\u2019d just be stuck there underwater,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe premise was pretty terrifying, but the visual of sunshine reflecting on the ripples of water from the perspective of being beneath the surface was always kind of hauntingly beautiful. The chorus lyric sprung from a recollection of that dream and the rest followed. It serves as a kind of reminder to myself that beauty can be found in unexpected situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite a person\u2019s deepest desires, time only continues to move forward, slowly and incessantly. People attempt to understand the present through our conceptions of the past, and they hope to use that understanding to guide the future. These simple chronological divisions offer them a simple way to organize their lives \u2013 where they\u2019ve been, where they are now, where they hope to be. Despite their connections, they feel disparate, always looking at one through the lens of another. On \u201cLost on You,\u201d Tigers Jaw poses a much more holistic idea \u2013 everyone exists in all of these timelines at once.<\/p>\n

With nearly five years since their last release, Walsh emphasized that the band \u201cwanted to feel confident in the material we have and let things progress naturally.\u201d And so they took their time finding what felt right, even though, of course, life continued on all around them. The result is a Tigers Jaw record as great as fans should expect. Songs like \u201cPrimary Colors\u201d and \u201cBaptized on a Redwood Drive\u201d find the group embracing a driving midtempo similar to alt rock heroes Jimmy Eat World or Weezer, with other tracks like \u201cHead Is Like a Sinking Stone\u201d and \u201cBREEZER\u201d feeling so classic that the best reference is Tigers Jaw themselves. They sing about blades and knives, anxieties and intentions, and timeless TJ topics like two worlds and ghosts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe genesis of [the second single] \u2018Ghost\u2019 was a chance run-in with a person I grew up with,\u201d Walsh explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cA run-in that would have been warm, welcomed, and cherished at one point in my life held no significance after the slow, steady passage of time and growing apart. The quick flash of memories with this person felt like a glimpse into a past life, or like seeing a ghost. Some people don\u2019t stay in your life forever and that\u2019s OK, but it\u2019s very interesting which memories get dredged up when you see a once familiar face.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next single, \u201cPrimary Colors,\u201d is a duet of lush interchanging vocals and harmonies between Walsh and Collins, complemented by a stunning video directed by Britain Weyant that mirrors the song\u2019s bittersweet reflection on time and memory.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Primary Colors\u2019 is about being so wrapped up in the aftermath of something that it overwhelms your senses entirely, when you\u2019re stuck somewhere between reflecting on the \u2018what ifs\u2019 and finding the resolve to move forward. We recreated that mental space in the music video as a performance space that had doorways to memories, journeying through a relationship from the very first sparks to the slow unraveling.\u201d<\/p>\n

These songs are portals taking listeners between different parts of the band\u2019s life and even people\u2019s own lives, showing them how they can understand time not as a linear narrative but as something that is all real and knowable at once. They weren\u2019t able to get here without starting somewhere else \u2013 somewhere fans can instantly recognize and relate to. And while where they are going may still be unknown to listeners, they can see traces of it here already. It\u2019s uncertain but true, something they are constantly grappling with as time continues to inevitably pass. But there is beauty in it if they can accept it, finding contentment in just attempting to know themselves.<\/p>\n

As Collins sings on \u201cPrimary Colors,\u201d \u201cI understand it all now \/ It\u2019s not supposed to make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tigers Jaw was originally formed in 2005 by Walsh and Adam McIlwee. Characterized by unconventionally catchy songs, weaving harmonies, and timelessly relatable lyricism, the band has been organically increasing its fan base over two decades of touring and releasing music. The duo recorded \u201cBelongs to the Dead\u201d<\/a> in 2006 using a cassette deck and cheap microphones in McIlwee\u2019s garage, drawing heavy influence from The Microphones. Around this time, they also self-recorded \u201cI\u2019m on Your Side,\u201d the \u201clost Tigers Jaw LP\u201d that contained early versions of TJ songs. Soon after, they linked up with Run for Cover Records to re-release the self-titled album<\/a> (originally released on CD by Scranton\u2019s Prison Jazz Records), as well as \u201cTwo Worlds\u201d<\/a> (2010), \u201cCharmer\u201d<\/a> (2014), and other EPs.<\/p>\n

Following a lineup change in 2013, Tigers Jaw began touring full-time. Walsh and longtime member Collins took some time off in 2016 to write songs for a new album that became \u201cSpin,\u201d<\/a> released in 2017 on Yip\u2019s Black Cement Records. Their first major label release was praised by critics and cemented the group as a songwriting force, satiating longtime fans and gripping new listeners. Aptly described as the middle ground between Fleetwood Mac and Saves the Day, Tigers Jaw has managed to progress and evolve while preserving the spirit of their modest origins in the scrappy DIY Scranton punk scene.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Collins, Tigers Jaw, and their previous album, \u201cI Won\u2019t Care How You Remember Me,\u201d in Episode 204 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:<\/p>\n