Album review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk
With a name like that it seems only right that this debut album should be produced by Jon Spencer, and much like his Blues Band, The Experimental Tropic Blues Band dig around in the various dark corners of punk, blues and rock's pasts and regurgitate the lot like The Cramps after a month spent on Lance Armstrong's training regime. 'Liquid Love' isn't an album to be studied with a straight face, but neither is it novelty gonzo humour. They do however, point out that this is a record about "fantasies, sex, love and burgers", so it's not exactly Sigur Rós either. No, this is clearly a riot from start to finish, one that doesn't take itself too seriously but still wants its appeal to last beyond a couple of listens for the sake of curiosity.
The intro to opening track 'The Best Burger' sounds like the climax to a show by The Who in their stage-trashing prime. That's where these guys are at; no holes barred, no prisoners taken, no holding back. The song is like The Jim Jones Revue having a seizure. Next they head into bluegrass land, this is then mixed with rockabilly and while it's still pedal to the floor, it's certainly one of the lighter moments. Blues and funk combine on 'Worm Wolf', a track so dirty it should be sprayed down with a pressure washer, plunged into sheep dip and put out into quarantine for a month. 'T.E.T.B.B Eat Sushi' is as though someone is trying to create rock 'n' roll using only a Casio keyboard and a harmonica, but playing the resulting song twice as fast as it was meant.
By the time we get to mid pint, 'Cant Change', a wasted doo-wop tale reimagined by Hunx at his most mentally unstable, you will have realised that it's a challenge to predict where The Experimental Tropic Blues Band will go next, but that if you choose to go with them you should take a large supply of condoms and Dettol. The growling, primitive psycho-punk of 'Nothing To Prove Part 2' will scare your children, the rest of the album will probably try and devour them. 'Break Up' and 'Sex Games' are shot through with blistering pace. Needless to say, 'Liquid Love' isn't one for the faint-hearted, but if you happen to have enemies who are faint-hearted, a dose of The Experimental Tropic Blues Band twice a day should finish them off pretty quickly.
Stream the album in full at The Experimental Tropic Blues Band's website
Buy the album
Catch them live:
March 2013
29+03+2013 Le Nouveau Monde - Fribourg - CH
30+03+2013 Oste - Domodossola - IT
31+03+2013 Jack The Ripper - Roncà - IT
April 2013
1+04+2013 Spectre Live Club - Bucine - Arezzo - IT
2+04+2013 Club 45 / Live in da Club - S. Benedetto del Tronto - IT
3+04+2013 Irish Cafè - L’Aquila - IT
4+04+2013 Mutiny! at PMK - Innsbruck - AU
6+04+2013 White Trash Fast Food - Berlin - GER
25+04+2013 Indiescreet / Sno!Bar - Milton Keynes - UK
26+04+2013 Packhorse - Leeds - UK
28+04+2013 Windmill - London - UK
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