Braindrops

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Braindrops
Studio album by
Tropical Fuck Storm
Released23 August 2019 (2019-08-23)
Recorded2018–2019
StudioDodgy Bros Studios (Nagambie, Victoria)
Genre
Length48:11
Label
Producer
Tropical Fuck Storm chronology
A Laughing Death in Meatspace
(2018) 		Braindrops
(2019) 		Deep States
(2021)
Singles from Braindrops
  1. "The Planet of Straw Men"
    Released: 4 March 2019
  2. "Paradise"
    Released: 17 June 2019
  3. "Who's My Eugene?"
    Released: 25 July 2019
  4. "Braindrops"
    Released: 19 August 2019

Braindrops is the second studio album by Australian supergroup Tropical Fuck Storm. It was released on 23 August 2019 through Flightless Records in Australia and Joyful Noise Recordings worldwide.[6][7]

Background[edit]

Following the release of their debut A Laughing Death in Meatspace in May 2018, the band would go on to play a series of national and international dates in varying capacities,[8] including a few dates opening for Modest Mouse (on their fall tour in October 2018)[9] and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (as a part of their Gizzfest event).[10]

On 23 August 2018, the band premiered the song "The Happiest Guy Around", which ended up being one half of a split single with Liars (who contributed the track "Total 3 Part Saga") as the 18th instalment of the LAMC (Less Artists More Condos) series of 7-inch singles curated by Famous Class Records; where "an established musician on the A-side" is paired "with one of the musician’s favorite new artists on the B-side".[11][12] The 7-inch was released on 28 September.[12]

On 21 January 2019, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard posted an image of them jamming with Liddiard in the foreground flipping the bird on their official Instagram account.[13] This led some to speculate Liddiard's involvement with the band's new material "either as a guest or producer."[13][10] On 4 March, Flightless announced that Tropical Fuck Storm had signed with them in Australia and New Zealand,[14][15][16] and on the same day, the band premiered "The Planet of Straw Men" with video, which would be the first single from their second album Braindrops, set to be released "mid-2019" through Joyful Noise Records worldwide and Flightless in Australia and New Zealand.[17][15][16]

On 17 June 2019, the band released the second single from their upcoming album, "Paradise"; the name of the album was also revealed to be Braindrops the same day, and its release date of 23 August was announced.[18][19][20]

Release[edit]

Aside from the aforementioned singles, Joyful Noise released limited edition vinyl through their mail order website, and distributed hot magenta coloured vinyl and CD versions of the album.[21]

Singles[edit]

Four singles have been released from the album: "The Planet of Straw Men",[7] "Paradise",[22] "Who's My Eugene?"[23] and "Braindrops".[24] Music videos for the tracks "The Planet of Straw Men",[25] "Braindrops",[24] "Who's My Eugene?"[26] and "The Happiest Guy Around"[27] have also been released. A different mix of the track "The Happiest Guy Around" had also previously appeared as the B-side to a split single with Liars in August 2018, as a part of the LAMC series of singles curated by Famous Class Records.[11][12]

Cover[edit]

Joe Becker, who had previously created the cover art for their debut album, was also credited with the cover art for Braindrops.[28]

Reception[edit]

Critical[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[29]
Metacritic77/100[30]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[31]
DIY[32]
Dork[1]
Exclaim!8/10[2]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[33]
The Music[34]
Paste8.2/10[3]
Sputnikmusic[35]
Tom HullB+((1-star Honorable Mention))[36]
Uncut8/10[37]

The album currently holds a Metacritic score of 77 based on 10 reviews and an AnyDecentMusic? score of 7.7 based on 13 reviews.[30][29]

Treble magazine, in a review published on 12 August 2019, named Braindrops their "Album of the Week" praising the track "Paradise" as "a sickly mirage of an oasis—you can practically see the disspiating heat haze over Liddiard's trickling guitar riffs. It slowly escalates its way toward a furious climax, turning into one of the most explosive break-up songs in recent memory". The review concludes: "Tropical Fuck Storm invite the chaos, orchestrating it, manipulating it, delivering a piece of mangled and bruised art that sounds magnificent at its most frayed and fragmented. It's a weirdness that feels strangely assuring, even necessary."[38] NARC Magazine gave the album a perfect score, writing that it "pretty much cements the Australians as one of the most vital acts on the planet right now."[39] Exclaim! called it "a psychedelic rock opera occasionally dipping its toes in the stream of electro-punk. The result is equal parts harrowing and electrifying, surreal and far too familiar."[2] According to Paste, "[l]istening to Braindrops feels like watching a sped-up timeline of rising sea levels and melting glaciers set to long-lost field recordings of maximalist noise-rock from the Outback. You're listening to a world falling apart."[3] Braindrops, writes The Line of Best Fit, "is as cerebral and gut-level as its name implies, high-minded and high volume, a grand mess that isn't really a mess at all."[33]

Contemporary[edit]

In an interview with Konbini, Iggy Pop praised the title track of the album, simply calling it "a good fuck".[40][41] Both Michael Feuerstack and Conan Neutron called it one of their favourite albums of the year, with the latter calling it "an utterly befuddling and "wrong" sounding record that is oh so "right." There isn't a clear monster single like "tyres" on this one, but the whole thing has a snakey, baked in the sun vibe that works its way into your subconscious."[42][43]

Awards and nominations[edit]

The album has been nominated for the Australian Music Prize of 2019.[44]

Accolades[edit]

Accolades for Braindrops
Publication Country Accolade Rank
Double J Australia The 50 best albums of 2019 38[45]
The Sydney Morning Herald (Craig Mathieson) Australia The best 10 albums of 2019 (and a few that came close) -[46]
Junkee Australia The 15 Best Albums Of 2019 -[47]
Slate US The Best Albums of 2019 -[48]
Brooklyn Vegan US Bill's Indie Basement: Best of 2019 39[49]
City Pages US The 75 best albums of 2019 53[50]
Loud and Quiet UK The Loud And Quiet best 40 albums of 2019 12[51]
OOR Netherlands The 40 Best Albums of The Year 2019 42[52]
Mondo Sonoro Spain The best international albums of 2019 27[53]
Rockdelux Spain Best international albums of 2019 48[citation needed]
Magic France The100 best albums of the year 2019 84[54]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Tropical Fuck Storm

Braindrops track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Paradise"6:14
2."The Planet of Straw Men"4:52
3."Who's My Eugene?"4:41
4."The Happiest Guy Around"4:28
5."Maria 62"3:56
6."Braindrops"6:42
7."Aspirin"5:14
8."Desert Sands of Venus"4:14
9."Maria 63"7:50
Total length:48:11

Personnel[edit]

  • "Gaz" (Gareth Liddiard) – performer, recording engineer, mixing engineer
  • "Fi Fi" (Fiona Kitschin) – performer
  • "RKO" (Erica Dunn) – performer
  • "Hammer" (Lauren Hammel) – performer

Additional credits[edit]

  • J.P. Shilo – violin (tracks: 5, 8, 9), guitar (tracks: 5, 8, 9), organ (tracks: 5, 8, 9)
  • Венера-14 – field recordings (track: 8)
  • Mike Deslandes – recording, mixing
  • Dav Byrne – mastering
  • Joe Becker – cover painting
  • Jamie Wdziekonski – photography
  • Andrew Quilty – photography
  • David Woodruff – layout

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Braindrops
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[55] 10
Australian Independent Albums (AIR)[56] 2
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[57] 3
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[58] 18
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[59] 93

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Tropical Fuck Storm – Braindrops". Dork. 22 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Tropical Fuck Storm Braindrops". exclaim.ca.
  3. ^ a b c "Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops". Paste. 19 August 2019.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (23 August 2019). "Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops review – punchy alt punks in a burning world". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  5. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops". 23 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm announce new album 'Braindrops'; listen to new single 'Paradise'". leguesswho.nl.
  7. ^ a b Sun, Fuzzy (22 June 2019). "Tropical Fuck Storm to release 'Braindrops'".
  8. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm's Concert & Tour History | Concert Archives". www.concertarchives.org.
  9. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm (ex-The Drones) touring w/ Modest Mouse + other dates". BrooklynVegan. 7 September 2018.
  10. ^ a b "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Tease New Music With The Drones' Gareth Liddiard". Music Feeds. 22 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Tropical Fuck Storm - "The Happiest Guy Around" | Post-Trash Premiere". POST-TRASH. 23 August 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Liars - "Total 3 Part Saga" & Tropical Fuck Storm - "The Happiest Guy Around"". 12 September 2018.
  13. ^ a b "@kinggizzard on Instagram: 'NeW. MuSiC. CoMiNg. SoOn. ..'". Instagram. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Flightless Records". www.facebook.com.
  15. ^ a b Parker, Jack (4 March 2019). "Tropical Fuck Storm Sign to Flightless, Release Single".
  16. ^ a b "Tropical Fuck Storm sign with Flightless Records". 4 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm release new single 'The Planet Of Straw Men'". Mixdown. 5 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Shares New Single "Paradise," Announce New Album | Ghettoblaster Magazine". 18 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Daily Dose: Tropical Fuck Storm, "Paradise"". pastemagazine.com. 18 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Tropical F*** Storm bring maximum intensity to a new single". Double J. 13 June 2019.
  21. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops". Discogs. 23 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Daily Dose: Tropical Fuck Storm, "Paradise"". pastemagazine.com. 18 June 2019.
  23. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Share New Song And Video 'Who's My Eugene?'". Music Feeds. 25 July 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Tropical Fuck Storm release new song and video for 'Braindrops'". 19 August 2019.
  25. ^ "The Quietus | News | WATCH: New Tropical Fuck Storm Video". The Quietus.
  26. ^ "20 New Songs Out Today". BrooklynVegan. 26 July 2019.
  27. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Shares Video "The Happiest Guy Around"". Ghettoblaster.
  28. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops Keep Falling on My Head - News Leak". 14 July 2019.
  29. ^ a b "Braindrops by Tropical Fuck Storm reviews | Any Decent Music". anydecentmusic.com.
  30. ^ a b "Braindrops by Tropical Fuck Storm". Metacritic.
  31. ^ "Braindrops - Tropical Fuck Storm | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  32. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops". DIY. 23 August 2019.
  33. ^ a b "Tropical F*ck Storm's Braindrops is a thrilling, high-minded mess". The Line of Best Fit.
  34. ^ "/". The Music.
  35. ^ owl beanie (26 August 2019). "Review: Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  36. ^ Tom Hull. "Grade List: tropical fuck storm". Tom Hull - on the web. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  37. ^ Uncut October 2019 issue, page 63
  38. ^ Terich, Jeff (13 August 2019). "Album of the Week: Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops".
  39. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Tropical Fuck Storm – Braindrops | NARC. | Reliably Informed | Music and Creative Arts News for Newcastle and the North East". narcmagazine.com.
  40. ^ "holy fucking fuck thanks @iggypopofficial 🦘🛸🦘🛸 and @konbini #tropicalfuckstorm". Facebook.
  41. ^ "Godfather of punk IGGY POP tells the world 'Braindrops' is a good fu*k". Amnplify. 19 September 2019.
  42. ^ "Top Records of 2019". Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal. 30 December 2019.
  43. ^ "FMG Best of 2019". Forward Music Group. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020. I was scared to see this band play, precisely because they are supposed to be so good. It never ends up being true. Fortunately, I also never end up being right. And for the record (pun intended), TFS's 2019 release Braindrops is as good as their first one, which is to say very great.
  44. ^ "The Australian Music Prize 2019". Australian Music Prize.
  45. ^ "The 50 best albums of 2019". Double J. 3 December 2019.
  46. ^ Mathieson, Craig (12 December 2019). "The best 10 albums of 2019 (and a few that came close)". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  47. ^ "The 15 Best Albums Of 2019". Junkee. 17 December 2019.
  48. ^ Wilson, Carl (10 December 2019). "The Best Albums of 2019". Slate Magazine.
  49. ^ "Bill's Indie Basement: Best of 2019". BrooklynVegan. 24 December 2019.
  50. ^ "The 75 best albums of 2019". City Pages.
  51. ^ "The Loud And Quiet best 40 albums of 2019". Loud And Quiet.
  52. ^ "Jaarlijst Oor 2019". Muzieklijstjes. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  53. ^ "Los mejores discos internacionales de 2019". Mondo Sonoro (in Spanish). 3 December 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2020. (Translated) There is nothing quite like the martian, arid and anarchic musical centrifuge of Tropical Fuck Storm, soundtrack to an era of general unhingedness. They deconstruct their influences - rock, post-punk, psychedelia, funk, hip-hop - and regurgitate them into distilled acid as expressionistic as the crazed cover illustration. [sic]
  54. ^ "Les 100 albums de l'année 2019". Magic RPM (in French). 20 December 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  55. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tropical Fuck Storm – Braindrops". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  56. ^ "THIS WEEK IN THE CHARTS - SEPTEMBER 2ND". Australian Independent Record Labels Association. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  57. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  58. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  59. ^ "Tropical Fuck Storm Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard.

External links[edit]

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