The Drones - any good (also Tropical Fuck Storm content here)

I would fucking kill for them to tour Canada.

Australians: has this made much of an impression locally?

i would say good solid interest and support but not quite the firestorm of enthusiasm the music deserves? which i guess is the case for the drones also

i went to one of the pre-LP TFS shows and it was really great but i hadn't at that point got a good sense of this as a project distinct from the drones - definitely an extension of the Feelin Kinda Free sound (as mentioned above) and quite a few Drones songs in the set

real keen to go again now the project has hit its straps

totally love the way Gareth and pals have managed to elude worthiness and pursue something more bent

related: the new Harmony album is out today - TFS' Erica Dunn is a member, and they sound a bit like a much more depressed Drones/TFS. The new album is very good on first contact.

This is excellent. I should reaaly check out The Drones too

you haven't? omg

start with the newest one and work backwards maybe. actually fuck it start with 'i see seaweed' it's one of the best albums of the last 20 years

agreed

excellent new TFS tune on this split single with Liars:

https://famousclass.bandcamp.com/album/lamc-18

They're currently opening for Modest Mouse on some US dates.

Thanks for the tip! More TFS is always welcome. Definitely doing everything I want from music these days.

in advance of the year-end poll and campaigning I've been trying to think of how to explain to non-initiates the singular appeal of the Tropical Fuck Storm record, so forgive me as I blather on for a moment.

there's been a lot of discussion re: the 1975 and their attempt to represent "the present moment" and whether that's even desirable. to my mind, while the zeitgeisty lyrical moments on "a brief inquiry" are sometimes amusing, sometimes cringey, the actual sonics feel extremely au courant but not actually in touch with the zeitgeist in terms of the constant unease, the nerviness, the elusiveness of any feasible next move, that I think or assume most of us feel. imo a laughing death in meatspace not only captures that feeling, in runs off in several dozen different directions with it and find a set of colors and variations and headspaces way out of most bands' reach. some of the reasons they're able to do that are a product of Gareth Liddiard's evolution as a lyricist, vocalist and guitarist, and others are specific to this band configuration. Gareth has a motormouthed intensity in order to cram his syllable-dense lines in, occasionally reaching for rap-like cadences. his vocals now have about a 75%/25% bilious/tender split. his lyrics are more coherent and less fragmented than ever, but dense with Aussie-specific slang (esp in "you let my tyres down") and he's not afraid to get incredibly goofy in dogged pursuit of a conceit (the hilariously technophobic "future of history"). he's sneering but not superior, angry but not without good reason, rant-oriented but never long-winded. (the only mark against the album is there's no lyric in here as cathartic as the last Drones album's "why you think the whole world's gotta be like you? / fuck Western supremacy!") his guitar playing has come so far since the early Drones record; he seems to have grown bored with chords entirely, and now mostly plays in weird diagonal patterns and screeches and scrapes that intersect beautifully and weirdly with the sci-fi synths.

but it's the vocal interplay supplied by Erica Dunn (who has been a major part of two other albums this year, one with Mod Con, produced by Liddiard, and the other one with the excellent and Google-proof Harmony, which has the unfortunate distinction of being called Double Negative in 2018.) and Fiona of the Drones. They act as a sometimes mocking, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes furious counterpoint to Gareth, occasionally taking over for a verse at a time. (Erica takes the lead on their fearless, skronky non-album cover of "Stayin' Alive", which you can find on Spotify and I am too lazy to link right now). their cascading vocal lines combine with Gareth's serpentine guitars, the eerie synth washes, and Lauren's sometimes-live, sometimes-programmed (and not always easily distinguishable) drums make for a rock record that actually swings with something approaching...funk?

and like a lot of the rock records I really like, it gradually loses its mind. starting with its most rock-leaning material and gradually getting weirder and weirder, until you reach the convincing ambient soundscaping of "shellfish toxin" and the doom ballad title track, and you start to wonder how in hell you even got here in the first place. but it's "rubber bullies" that I think gets across in six tidy minutes what these guys are so good at. it's one of my most-played songs in years. working with a steady, slinky rhythm, Gareth details in typically dense verses just how the odds are stacked against the righteous, in terms that should be familiar to anyone who's ever been involved in a likely-to-lose campaign, while incorporating what might be the first example in rock history of a letter-ordered list seamlessly integrated into a verse:

discreet wet dreams and nightmares
seclusion, side by side
the world’s way too connected
and all anybody does is fight
staging their crypto inquisitions
all in multiple choice, like:
Anything that screws you’s
surely sured up by its bulk and...
A: better organized?
B: better mobilized?
C: getting monetized?
D: can’t be criticized?

after about five minutes there's finally the release of a proper dramatic build, complete with a key change (I think?), the first real release in over a quarter of the album. it ends the album hauntingly on an anecdote where even a holiday turns tragic and frightening, with an acquaintance winding up iced by one of Rio's Pacifying Police Units:

just take me on a holiday
and put me on an aeroplane
where we going now?
to that terrace over Rio
with a bougainvillaea vines
where the heat finally nailed me
so we stayed the extra night
and the guard up in the watchtower
charged with keeping out the fighting
joked the difference between sexes
all boils down to their handwriting
when we checked out the next morning
we were on a first name basis
but then he had the kind of features
where you can’t recall his face
but it wouldn’t have been that much later he saw God’s
‘cause he died staring up the nostrils
of a UPP shotgun

tl:dr, this is a fucking kickass rock band that relies on very few typical kickass rock band tropes in favor of an approach that's both more cerebral and less studied, somehow

excellent stuff simon!

yeah both posts otm
my favourite rock album of the year by far. very excited to go see them next year when they'll be coming to europe

Didn't know about the new band, sounds real good, will give it a go to consider for my year end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_9fLIiSaRQ

tl:dr, this is a fucking kickass rock band that relies on very few typical kickass rock band tropes in favor of an approach that's both more cerebral and less studied, somehow

― resident hack (Simon H.), Tuesday, 18 December 2018 04:49 (nine hours ago) Permalink

This.

Also using the Carducci Metric, you can tell TFS is a great band cuz no one is talking about them

Gareth lyrically doesn't always stick the landing, for me anyway, but when he does, it completely fucking flattens me

"I See Seaweed" by the Drones is probably the best rock record of the last ten yrs

I possibly agree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdrip6k3g74

whoa that stayin' alive cover rules

it's kinda wild that the drones' debut came out 16 years ago and gareth is only getting better and better. great post simon

hoping for more Erica lead vox on the next album

and yeah the early Drones albums just seem so...basic now, outside of a few undeniable jams

his guitar playing has come so far since the early Drones record; he seems to have grown bored with chords entirely, and now mostly plays in weird diagonal patterns and screeches and scrapes that intersect beautifully and weirdly with the sci-fi synths.

Simon, you put into words what I've been trying to describe since I first heard "Feelin Kinda Free". 'Diagonal guitar patterns' indeed, Gareth's innovative approach makes most other bands sound boring to me. I'm desperate to find more in this vein!

great posts simon

just a fantastic band, this feels like this year's Thin Black Duke by Oxbow, a record that just kinda fell threw the cracks in favor of a bunch of buzz bands that offer far, far less

ISS is one of those albums where no track is even approaching weak, and it's also one of those albums where the first half is amazing and the second half is even better. I probably said this already

Oxbow comparison on-point

yeah despite FKF getting us closer to the TFS sound, ISS is stronger overall, def their rockist apex after which point they had to start getting weird or implode

ISS expanded their sound a decent amount with a lot more keyboards and piano than before, helping pave the way for them really breaking loose with FKF

apropos of nothing: "To Think I Once Loved You" is the best fake Radiohead song ever written

also if a mod could add "Tropical Fuck Storm" to the thread title that would be dope

it's a bit like the relationship between mcclusky & future of the left, similar aesthetic at the core but different versions of it

Never listened to the Drones - I guess they just flew completely under my radar all these years. But I found that TFS record through the Quietus’s EOY list and was totally taken off guard. Not the record I thought I was looking for this year.

as much as this is a vocal/lyric band, "Shellfish Toxin" is a really amazing instrumental, almost reminds me of a post punk Robert Wyatt or something

this feels like this year's Thin Black Duke by Oxbow, a record that just kinda fell threw the cracks in favor of a bunch of buzz bands that offer far, far less

They've always passed me by, especially at the ATP when I took a tactical nap during their set to avoid going back to the chalet, but the Oxbow comparison intrigues me because I fkn love Oxbow.

Oh I should say they don't sound anything like Oxbow, I just meant in the sense they seem to be chasing down their own thing, ignoring and ignored by the general zeitgeist

hoping for more Erica lead vox on the next album

You could just listen to her Mod Con album, mentioned upthread:
https://poisoncityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/modern-convenience

Feelin Kinda Free was my #7 album for 2016.

yeah I linked that as well. it's pretty good but not as distinctive as TFS

i listened to and enjoyed the TFS album when it came out but this thread lead me to go back to it, so thanks all. it reminds me of the grinderman albums.

I like FKF a lot but the second side is significantly iffier than the first.

good closer

Yeah I hadn't listened to the TFS in a minute, man this is a great record

thanks for the ISS rec, i like it.

somebody posted this on a youtube video of the album audio:

The singer sounds like the dregs of a pouch of champion ruby found next to yesterday's coopers on the porch. It's wonderful.

does anybody knows what this means

refers to wine and expired cigarettes?

I have no idea but it sounds like a Gareth lyric so it fits

speaking of which, everyone also needs to hear Gareth's strange Tourist, his take on a solo folk record. endless songs full of bleak character studies. great winter album

Coopers is beer, Champion ruby is roll your own tobacco

ah, thanks

as much as this is a vocal/lyric band, "Shellfish Toxin" is a really amazing instrumental, almost reminds me of a post punk Robert Wyatt or something

I still am not 100% on Gareth's vocals (never listened to the Drones) but def the second half of "Soft Power" => "Shellfish Toxin" is where I went from thinking this was 'ok + knockout opening track' to being fully on board with the vibe of this album, just nailing down the Dystopian Now like a coffin lid

The "slime green" LP I picked up is gloriously garish in all respects. Was surprised to find that the artwork was done by a Montreal artist who passed a few years back.

http://www.patrickmikhailgallery.com/exhibitions/joe-becker-

Euro tour for TFS confirmed, whoop.

New TFS LP coming out later this year. Here's a video appetizer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xOxmHTYMg

Just coming to post that. Really pleased that TFS wasn't a one-off. Best band going for my money.

sweet

it's amazing how much they're able to do on top of the constant bassline

Songs that fool you about where the downbeat is.