Is Tropical - Native To

  by Tara McEvoy

published: 8 / 7 / 2011

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Review

Being signed to potentially the world’s coolest label, Kitsuné, must create a certain amount of pressure, but luckily none of that strain is showing on Is Tropical’s debut album, ‘Native To’. A solid piece of good, old fashioned songwriting, coupled with a modern, indie sound, the album is the kind of affair that mightn’t necessarily find itself creeping its way up many charts, but will doubtlessly provide the soundtrack to many summer barbecues, lazy Sunday mornings and long drives. Particular highlights include ‘The Greeks’, with its motivational refrain ("You only get what you give away") and a musicality indebted to electro-pop upstarts such as Klaxons and even older influences such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, the synthesiser wielding dance tune ‘South Pacific’ and ‘ I’ll Take My Chances’ a song which finds the band as close to balladry as they’re likely ever to come, but still retains some catchy electronic stylings. While the collection of twelve tracks may start to grate if listened to in one go, each track could stand alone as a potential single. The work on display here mightn’t be flawless – no one track strikes you as the work of a band in their prime, yet ‘Native To’ signals the arrival of a band we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on, and forms a promising, if not perfect, debut.

Track Listing:-

1 South Pacific
2 Land Of The Nod
3 Lies
4 The Greeks
5 What???
6 Clouds
7 Take My Chances
8 Oranges
9 Berlin
10 Think We're Alone
11 Zombie
12 Seasick Mutiny