One of the things guaranteed to make almost all reviewers sigh is the phrase ‘our music is really hard to categorise.’ Now, somewhere, I seem to have mislaid a press release for this album (if I had one to start with), so when I continued to work through my ever-growing pile of review CDs I was really taking this at face value.
And actually, if the press release had included that phrase, it would have been justified. Basically, if Echo and the Bunnymen were The Doors fronted by Scott Walker, then Tropical Popsicle are… I’m still trying to get an exact handle on this, because from the opening moment of ‘Always Awake In Shadows’ this is an album that delights and surprises as you try to piece individual shands together.
It’s Nuggets meets the NME C86 tape. It’s The Velvet Underground writing pop songs with The Doors. Then being covered by The Jesus and Mary Chain. With Ian McCulloch on vocals. And whilst I can’t pinpoint the exact points, it seems that somehow the spirit of both The Ramones and Forever Changes has crept in here, too.
So yes, they have achingly cool record collections. Yes, much of this record sounds like it could have been made it any point between 1967 and the present day. Yet somehow, it all comes together and when I’ve finished writing this review, I’ll go and investigate the band further…
