Is Tropical & Rose Elinor Dougall - When I'm With You

We’re not sure how this one has come about (management links, friendship, some sort of hook up on Tinder, or carnal shenanigans perhaps?)  but here are two acts that both featured on Breaking More Waves back in the olden days, who haven’t really got a look in recently (although we may well have given mention to this NSFW video on our Twitter timeline a while back.)

So what has the meeting of artistic minds of electro-art-terrorists Is Tropical (or at least Dom from the band) and everyone’s favourite ex-pop-pipette-gone-indie Rose Elinor Dougal conjured up? Only  a cover of When I’m With You, originally performed by Sparks, a band who alongside Kraftwerk and The Pet Shop Boys featured some of the best motionless keyboard playing in the history of pop.

The Tropical Rose (for that’s what we’re calling them) version sounds very much as if its paying homage to the likes of those aforementioned electronic legends (as well as Giorgio Moroder). This is like dreamy highbrow synth sex, all pulsing and throbbing, but somehow richly aloof at the same time. It's the musical version of taps - both hot and cold, but never coming out lukewarm. Enjoy.

Footnote: There were an awful lot of unnecessary brackets in this post (but we like them).

Is Tropical & Rose Elinor Dougall - When I'm With You

Is Tropical - New Waves @ Breaking More Waves

When men wear masks in pop bands - Altern 8 and Slipknot immediately come to mind - we question why they wish to remain anonymous. Is it because they are so cocksure of their songs that they believe instant success will shower them with recognition that they don’t want ? Is it some arty statement on pop celebrity ? After they’ve finished their video or photo shoot are they about to rob a bank ? Are they just a talking point for publicity ? Or are they just damn ugly ? Is Tropical are the masked buccaneers that we’re talking about in this case, but for the moment the question remains unanswered. So instead we’ll just concentrate on the bands music.

Is Tropical are a trio who have an escapist indie pop sensibility about them, but it is coated with a simple raw electronic sound. Everything they do features a certain squalid lo-fi ambience that on South Pacific reminds us of OMD (Messages or Electricity for example), and on the instrumental Seasick Mutiny a common wonkiness displayed by bands such as Hot Chip and more particularly Metronomy is brought to the fore. The debut single from Is Tropical is When O When and will be released on the 18th January on limited edition seven inch and download through Hit Club, exclusively through Pure Groove records. The band are also stepping out on tour with the much praised Egyptian Hip Hop very soon. Be one of the first twenty through the door and get yourself an exclusive free CD.

When O When is a devious little number starting with accordions, a simple electronic loop and cowboy like acoustic strum before after a minute and a half it crashes in with something a little heavier to rattle the bones. It certainly shows some promise but we think the band will have to ditch the masks soon or they will be mocked for just being a gimmicky band. Here it is.