Is Tropical / Native To

Is Tropical
Native To
(Kitsune/Co Op)
* * * * *

Hipsters, flipsters and finger-poppin' daddies: knock me your lobes. Is Tropical have been confusing audiences in London for a while now, dressing up like Palestinian freedom fighters while playing weirdo synth-pop and jumping around like the KLF on ketamine. We all knew they were mysterious, but we also secretly wondered; are they any good?
Well, judging by the way this review is encapsulated in an Album Of The Month box, I think you can safely assume we're answering in the affirmative - and here's why.
(1) Pop terrorists RULE! Is Tropical are a parody of Shoreditch hipsters, taking their poser-cool to the extreme of identity erasure, while playing a mean-ass synth. Score!
(2) Their debut album isn't an anti-climax: it's actually a climax-accelorator! Songs like 'South Pacific' and 'Lies' are bonafide hits worthy of doing battle on the pages of Pop Justice. Let's take this to the streets!
(3) They are indeed quite tropical. (Note: we're not sure if their name is a rhetorical question, or even a question at all, but there's your answer in case you were wondering.)
(4) This record is full of singles; 'Oranges' feels like driving an open-roofed Lamborghini into space, while 'Lies' puts Soft Cell and Justice in a cage and prods them with a stick until they fight! (Or make love)
(5) They make the wearing of tea towels seem inexplicably cool. When was the last time you saw a band achieve this? Exactly: you have never seen a band achieve this. Case closed!