Review: Tropical Fuck Storm at The Rechabite
Tropical Fuck Storm at The Rechabite
w/ Michael Beach
Friday, November 14, 2025
One of Australia’s most beloved heavy bands, Tropical Fuck Storm (TFS) brought their unique brand of acerbic noise rock to The Rechabite on Friday night, mixing sonic violence with heart-on-sleeve passion.
The latter was in plentiful display before the band even stepped on stage courtesy of revelatory opener Michael Beach. Beach had a hand in producing TFS’ latest album and is a seasoned touring and recording artist in his own right. His sound traces elements of Neil Young, Springsteen and the grit of The Stones alongside noisier sounds in the vein of TFS. His guitar, plus looper pedal, was open-ended, emotive and jangly, as on the recent single Poison Dart and across the Middle Eastern stylings that opened the set.
Without a backing band, however, it was his vocal and keyboard talents that stole the show. I’m Gonna Need You from his latest record (this year’s Big Black Plume, which comes highly recommended) was beautiful, a slowed-down and key-driven version of Never Had Enough Time With You was jaw-dropping, and a cover of Richard and Linda Thompson’s Calvary Cross gave goosebumps. Beach gained (at the very least) a new fan this night.
After a short break it was onto the main act. Tropical Fuck Storm are a supergroup of sorts, carrying on from the ashes of The Drones and piling even more noise and experimentation atop an already raw and eclectic sound. Led by The Drones vocalist, songwriter and living legend Gareth Liddiard, the group also features Fiona Kitschin from The Drones on bass and is rounded out by Erica Dunn (Mod Conn, Harmony, Palm Springs) on guitar/vocals and Lauren Hammen (High Tension) on drums.
The band is coming off arguably the greatest album of their career. Fairyland Codex takes their trademark noise and wraps it in their best-written and most melodic set of songs to date, alongside some great experimentation (some of it apparently inspired by the procurement of some obscure drum machines that the band had to teach themselves how to program). This set was no indication that their music had smoothed round the edges, though, as the songs opened up and ripped onstage, fitting in seamlessly alongside an array of choice cuts from their career.
The set opened with Everyone’s a Winner on the PA (which TFS have rather amusingly covered) before the band launched into the frantically picked riffage of Braindrops. Irukandji Syndrome from the latest LP Codex followed, an awesome track that exploded live at twice the volume and speed. Goon Show’s slow-burn menace transferred live also, with the track building and featuring raucous tremolo-picked guitar work. The live dynamic was a pleasure to behold all night.
The band’s sound is inimitable, recalling the heyday of The Rolling Stones in the way that loose and jagged guitar sounds intersect seemingly at random when it is anything but. The band’s sound is a combination of muscle memory and musical instinct only honed through flesh and blood playing. Hands hardly left whammy bars, and giant guitar pedal boards certainly help too, with Gareth making a fun aside lamenting the closure (or, according to a punter, shrinkage) of Kosmic Sound and how he was steered towards his first guitar pedal there.
The set continued with You Let My Tyres Down, one of their most touching songs, with Gareth wearing the lyrics on his face as he, Erica and Fiona harmonised it together in one of the most heartfelt moments of the night. Murderers, the most furious-sounding track on their latest album, kept emotions high. The slinking riffage of Rubber Bullies followed, a slow-burn masterpiece.
After a short break the encore saw the set rounded out with the emotional gut punch of Stepping on a Rake and then Paradise, a song so ragged and torn that it seemed to come apart at the seams as Liddiard pushed his voice to the limit and the band charged on all cylinders. It was a cathartic end to a set that felt like one big crescendo, one that the crowd certainly won’t forget.
MATIJA ZIVKOVIC
Photos by Chaz Hales
