The setup is refreshingly honest: no overdubs, no studio trickery, just four musicians locked in combat with their instruments in an East London rehearsal space. What emerges is a sound that occupies the territory somewhere between Radiohead's paranoid alienation and the brutal directness of Queens of the Stone Age, though TC TENET's vision feels distinctly his own.

"Animals" builds from a prowling bass line—courtesy of Jeremi Szczepkowski—that suggests menace before the first guitar strike. When TC's vocals enter, there's an immediacy that recalls the best of British alternative rock's golden period, though filtered through a distinctly 2025 lens of societal disillusionment. The lyrics, while dealing with society's spiritual emptiness, avoid the trap of sixth-form philosophy that plagues so many of his contemporaries.

Alex Colombo's drumming provides the track's backbone—a relentless pulse that drives the song forward without overwhelming the spaces that TC and David Needle's dual guitars carve out. It's in these dynamics where "Animals" truly succeeds; the interplay between crushing volume and strategic restraint shows a band that understands the power of negative space as much as they do sonic assault.

The video itself captures something increasingly rare in today's over-produced musical landscape: genuine spontaneity. Watching TC contort behind his microphone, you're reminded that rock music, at its core, is still about the primal connection between performer and audience—even when that audience is merely a camera.

Where alternative rock often feels apologetic about its own existence, TC TENET makes no such concessions. "Animals" doesn't just bite—it draws blood. And in doing so, it reminds us why we fell in love with loud guitars in the first place.

The "alt-rock 2.0" tag that's been attached to TC TENET's work feels apt—this isn't nostalgia, but rather a reimagining of what alternative rock can be when it remembers its teeth. "Animals" suggests that the genre's obituary has been greatly exaggerated.

"Animals" is available now. The live session featuring "Animals," "Get Away," and "Thu Guru" was recorded at Arcus Sounds, London.