Fairyland Codex - Tropical Fuck Storm: Review
Review by Lavender:
Tropical Fuck Storm exists within a scene of Australian psychedelic rock bands with silly names that I've only briefly touched on throughout the history of this blog. I briefly talked about their 2019 album Braindrops, but haven't said much since. That was, until earlier this year, when they started dropping one fantastic, experimental, dynamic single after another. In fact, it's Fairyland Codex’s compositional dynamism that caused me to be so late on covering it. Somewhere in my drafts is an obnoxiously long, extensive, and frankly unbearable review of this album. Instead, I'm keeping it on the shorter side (relatively) as the record really speaks for itself.
Lead single “Goon Show” is a strong way to introduce the record, even if it avoids some of the wildest sonic excesses. It has these brooding undertones and a hypnotic chorus. I love the restraint the band deploys, saving any extra instrumentation for just the right moment. It makes for such a grinding song that really locks you into its bizarre narrative, which coincidentally might be the most Australian thing I've ever heard. The best point of comparison among the deep cuts is “Joe Meek Will Inherit The Earth.” It deploys this hypnotic repetition of “charity begins at home” that's matched with a dark bassline and sauntering percussion to great results.
The title track takes up nearly a 5th of the record all on its own, but it's time well spent. The opening section conjures images of social ills and eerily repeats “a village in hell, is waiting for you.” Eventually, it erupts into the kind of chaotic degradation where everything just messily collapses, and the song spends several minutes putting it all back together. It's such a dynamic and fun way to structure a song that makes for a great journey. That same kind of wandering structure is present on the hilariously titled single “Dunning Kruger's Loser Cruiser.” This might be my favorite TFS to date, from its hilarious lyricism to the infectious repetition of "Private Life.” The song has this very loose instrumental that always picks just the right moment to lock in, particularly around the catchiest hook the record has to offer. This one hasn't left my rotation since it dropped.
On the louder end of things, we've got “Bloodsport,” whose wiry guitars and gritty vocals literally crack with energy. The groove adds so much punch to the hook and makes for another one of the record's catchiest moments. The most throttling moment on the entire album might be the opener “Irukandji Syndrome.” It deploys a killer bassline and a whole host of wiry guitars that eventually erupt on the hook. And what a hook it is, with dueling vocals that have an infectious push and pull.
Other candidates for the album's most intense moment include the second half of the last single “Teeth Marche.” It's a memorable moment that contrasts well with the eerie looping guitar lines on the first half. The contrast is even stronger on “Moscovium,” which really hooks me with a sparse passage of harmonizing and evocatively imprecise lyrics throughout its middle section. That eventually gives way to an explosive, dissonant breakdown that guides the album to its conclusion in the most fitting of ways.
Even though there are tracks like “Stepping On A Take” and “Bye Bye Snake Eyes” that I don't find nearly as intriguing as the rest, this is still one of the most innovative and unique rock records of the year. It doesn't so much sound like a band “coming into their own” as it does a band realizing just how far they can push the elements that make them unique into a fascinating soup of experimental rock. Albums this sonically ambitious are rarely this catchy, but one of Fairyland Codex‘s best features is the hooks that burst out of all the chaos and stick in my brain. Even as the band occasionally sounds like they're slurring and stumbling their way through these soundscapes, it's intoxicating. 8/10
For more rock, check out my review of Wet Leg's moisturizer
