Tropical Fuck Storm at Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/5/2022
“Tropical Fuck Storm isn’t just a cool name”, so says Tracey, one of my Colleagues For Life. He sent me a clip of “You Let My Tyres Down”, which you too can hear. A little edgy, I’m thinking, but kinda cool. Popping around 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 beauty 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 band 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 comfortable (and talented) with keyboards and bass as she is with her axe. Drummer Lauren Hammel is an absolute 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 give a, well, fuck, about how it goes down.
The crowd skews heavy towards Aussie rugby, huge plastic cups full of beer splashing all over the place. The overall feel is less mosh pit and more scrum, which seems a better 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.