4 out of 5

Label: Joyful Noise

Produced by: Gaz (recorded by, mixed by)

Some brilliant noise pop fudgery on the A-side – however we would describe Tropical Fuck Storm – and then a wonderfully fuzzy punk cover on B.

TFS’ sound is a melange of melody and skronk. It calls to mind an early Truman’s Water kind of mess – that DIY, kitchen-sink flavor – but it’s then shot through with a modern grasp of current production chops and an eye, ultimately, on maintaining a sense of song over the inherent rawness. Synths and regular instruments and gang vocals collide for something that seems sweet and snide all at once, and that’s very perfectly represented in singalong Suburbiopia, with its “Take my hand and see” positivity – encouraging a don’t-knock-it-lest-ya-tried-it aw shucks wisdom – slapped up against ugly lyrics that conflate playing Fortnite with drug addictions and cults, and that’d be maybe eye-rolling in lesser hands, but it’s wonderful vitriol as shouted by Fifi and brought to playful musicality by the group.

B-side This Perfect Day is a cover of the same by Australian punkers’ The Saints, and for those of us without an affinity for the original, I can say it’s a passionate performance of a quality and catchy punk song, though it still runs out of steam even at a short 2 minute mark. That may be a limitation of the source material, of course; the grunged up production and Amy Taylor’s brilliantly sneery delivery take the track a long ways, though, certainly enough to make it a solid backing to the A-side.