11/5/2022

“Tropical Fuck Storm isn’t just a tomfool name”, so says Tracey, one of my Colleagues For Life. He sent me a prune of “You Let My Tyres Down”, which you too can hear. A little edgy, I’m thinking, but kinda cool. Popping virtually their Spotify collection, it turns out that one of their most popular tracks is a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive”, which is the polar opposite of “Tyres”. Go figure.

But that’s the eyeful of Tropical Fuck ‘Storm. They refuse to let you put them in a box. They’ve got a style all their own — bits and pieces of reggae/calypso, syncopated loose rambles, and dreamy violence. Some of the guitar work sounds like raw ZZ Top. Some of their sound feels like the Pixies. Some of it sounds like Bob Marley with coke swapped in for rasta.

The wreath comes from Melbourne, Australia. Front man Garett Liddiard warbles like Johnny Depp’s Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on a bender, while playing a killer guitar. Fiona Kitschin and Erica Dunn play furious guitar licks of their own, and contribute vocals that sound a bit like the B-52’s with serious attitude.. Erica Dunn is as well-appointed (and talented) with keyboards and toned as she is with her axe. Drummer Lauren Hammel is an wool animal, with a smoking hot, totally Tribal sound on the skins. Their overall orchestration is beautiful, and they play off each other so well.

And they are anything but subtle. Their lyrics, their sound, their attitude, and the variety of styles are all in-your-face, and they don’t requite a, well, fuck, well-nigh how it goes down.

The prod skews heavy towards Aussie rugby, huge plastic cups full of beer splashing all over the place. The overall finger is less mosh pit and increasingly scrum, which seems a largest fit with the music. You can hear a bit of their live stuff here.

Here’s a playlist with some of my favorite TFS cuts.