"The whole guitar indie thing is getting really clichéd, it's just the same stuff over and over again", says frontman Jamie Williams.

"This Oasis-ey lad thing has got quite big, but we're not much of a lad band. I've always liked the way the Smashing Pumpkins were accessible but arty, and they looked odd."

Sonically provoked by the sensuous filmic elegance of Ennio Morricone as much as the "ramshackle" folky rock of The Arcade Fire, the band are completed by bassist Owain, drummer Chris, and strikingly attractive part-Norwegian violinist Glenna.

Their next Leeds gig is at the Cockpit on June 26, providing support for the idiosyncratic melodrama-folk of Edinburgh headliners Broken Records.

"We've not played there before, so I'm quite excited", Jamie says. "When I came to Leeds aged 18 the Cockpit was where I went to see bands I liked.

"We like playing at The Faversham, I suppose it's our 'home' venue.

"Our first gigs were at The Primrose, which is tiny – but they were fantastic, really supportive.

"They usually have a lot of pub rock stuff which the locals go crazy for, and here we were with this weird sound but they seemed to like that too. They really encourage new music."

Tigers That Talked came together in Leeds in 2006. All but Owain, who has just graduated, had already finished their degrees at the University of Leeds.

Glenna completed the lineup only last year after meeting Jamie through working for the University's disability services.

Their path to success has been a rapid one, and last month they packed out venues at the Dot To Dot Festival in Bristol and Nottingham.

"At Nottingham we played in a 450-capacity venue", Jamie says. "Fifteen minutes before we went on stage there were about six people there, but when we came back out it was full.
"We were really shocked how many people came! It was a weird feeling, but really nice."

The band take their name from Richard Brautigan's surrealist 1968 novel In Watermelon Sugar.

"It's made up of tiny one-page chapters", Jamie says.

"It's a gentle book, but there's this weird part where tigers break into a kid's house and attack his parents, but them help him with his Maths homework!

"It's a war allegory, the US in Korea. I wrote a song called Tigers That Talked about the book, and just before our first gig we needed a name so we chose that."

This theme is repeated in the video Weapon, the band's signature tune thus far.

Tigers That Talked are currently in the studio recording new EP Some Sparrow'd Hill with Will Jackson, a veritable indie hit chemist who has worked with The Music, The Cribs, and The Pigeon Detectives.

It's expected to be released on the band's new label, Bad Sneakers, in the autumn, and will be followed by a debut album early next year.

Their new material allows greater prominence to Glenna's spacey string work, arguably the band's most distinctive feature.

"She bought a guitar effects pedal and plugged in the violin", Jamie says.

"It means the violin can sit on top of the music rather than contending with the other instruments.

"On our new song, 23 Fears, she's made it sound like sonar – really bleepy and keyboardy."

Lyrically, Jamie says he tries to capture "feelings everyone has, but which no one usually writes about."

He adds: "One of our songs is about going out with all your mates but feeling a bit distant from them when they're all drunk, and wondering if they really are your mates.

"A lot of people seem to identify with it. It's something bands like Elbow do really well, with complex feelings, but making them understandable and not too highbrow."

Tigers That Talked are on an upward curve and Jamie appears quietly determined that their impact should be widely felt.

"We just want to get our music out to as many people as possible, and play as much live as we can.

"I want to make the best record we can, that people will treasure. Like with Funeral, by The Arcade Fire, or The Wind In The Wires by Patrick Wolf – those are records I know I'll always listen to."

Listen to Tigers That Talked here