TROPICAL FUCK STORM - “FAIRYLAND CODEX” REVIEW
Written by Beau Croxton
Tropical Fuck Storm by Jamie Wdziekonski
Fairyland Codex is another great entry into the Tropical Fuck Storm universe; it is a clever, cartoonish and chaotic world that only they could create themselves.
Australian band and off-kilter virtuosos Tropical Fuck Storm have returned in 2025 to present their fourth official studio album, Fairyland Codex. It is important to note that since the band’s third studio album, it feels as if they never left. They released their movie “Goody Goody Gumdrops” in late 2021 and have released numerous EPs since. In 2022, they released a collab EP called Satanic Slumber Party with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and in 2023 they released their covers EP, Submersive Behavior (which featured fantastic covers of The Stooges, Hendrix and more). All of these releases were very creative and delivered tons of fun.
One look at the band name and album cover should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect…Fairyland Codex is a wild, dark and sometimes gloomy apocalypse-party that sashays between the band’s typical batshit-fun tunes and some more moody, melancholy material. Singer/guitarist Garreth Liddiard and singer/guitarist Erica Dunn’s vocals continue their trademark of coming together like some totally warped version of the B-52’s. With every Tropical Fuck Storm release, one thing is for sure– no one chooses to make music like they do. The band has always been on a mission to make things as gnarly, interesting, and wacky as possible with their sometimes undefinable art-punk tunes– and they deliver that (and more) on Fairyland Codex.
“Irukandji Syndrome” opens with a duo of fuzzy guitars buzzing through the track in a dramatic fashion. It’s anchored by a serious catchy bass-line (courtesy of Fiona Kitschin) that uses the phrygian-dominant scale, which provides a dark and groovy desert vibe. Garreth Liddiard and Erica Dunn deliver shouted call-and-response vocals to heighten the drama. Liddiard enters with hilariously quotable lyrics right out of the gate– “I thought murders never happened in public toilets– people never wore shorts in court” The story peaks when describing an encounter with a massive Irukandji jellyfish that “had seven eyes and seven tails / Laced with cyanide and DMT”. It's an explosive, animated and highly engaging opener to introduce the wild nature of the record. It’s a major standout and it has some of the gnarliest instrumentals as well.
“Goon Show” goes into detail on “The Golden age of assholes / and the triumph of disgrace”, which is a consistent theme on Fairyland Codex. The track brings to mind the current politics of a few major countries when Liddiard describes a place “where people wave their flags at other people waving flags”. The outro takes us into a cacophony of trademark Tropical Fuck Storm noise-rock, which is just gloriously haywire. “Goon Show” is a romp that has fitting commentary on the odd times we live in, with equal parts despair and disgust.
On this record (and in general) Tropical Fuck Storm often weaves their oddball art-punk tendencies with gloomy, melancholy tracks. “Stepping on A Rake” is a great example of how this is done very beautifully, as it's very emotionally resonant with lyrics like “I’m your island even when you are washed away” and “When we first met, I loved you right away”. Be still my heart… who would have thought a band called “Tropical Fuck Storm” was capable of envoking this type of raw emotion? Its an emotionally poignant track and the outro’s instrumental really drives it home.
“Teeth Marché” is a major highlight that enters with a swanky groove, it’s led by guitarist/singer Erica Dunn and it's seriously funky- it recalls the swagger of the band’s “Stayin Alive” cover. It's got a slick strut, an excellent bridge and its chock full of excellent and mysterious minor-chord guitar licks. The final chorus dials the energy up as Dunn squeals and shrieks. “Teeth Marché” is an essential track.
Fairyland Codex album artwork painted by Joe Becker. Out today on Fire Records
“Fairyland Codex” is accented by acoustic guitar flourishes, tonal despair and weeping pedal steel in the background. It's a good and occasionally beautiful track (albeit depressing) and while it takes a bit of time to blossom, once it gets into its crescendo, it really holds its own.
“Dunning Kruger’s Loser Cruiser” doubles down on the aforementioned “batshit” vibes the band specializes in. This off-kilter track quickly shifts into wild detours and ditches its prior form almost immediately. It's a very spontaneous approach; like a kid tossing an “old toy” and grabbing a newer and shinier one. Only Tropical Fuck Storm could make sense of wacky music like this, and while it may scare the casuals– real ones will know whatsup.
“Blood Sport” does a great job of maintaining the wackiness of the previous track, while also leaning into a more accessible nature that may be less scary to the aforementioned casuals. Erica Dunn’s enthusiastic squealing on “Bloodsport” makes for a very awesome vocal performance——the track is a major highlight, and again its probably something that only Tropical Fuck Storm could come up with.
Tropical Fuck Storm by Jamie Wdziekonski
“Joe Meek Will Inherit the Earth” leans into some awesome, clunky and fuzzy percussion by drummer Lauren Hammel and other interesting instrumentals. It does push into some repetition that doesn't serve the track as well as others, but it has great instrumental flourishes. While this track may fade into the background (being surrounded by highlights), there's some great moods, fantastic keys and vibey guitars to boot.
“Bye Bye Snake Eyes” dips back into the folkier side of the record, this time led by Dunn. While it's mostly mystical and moody, there are gorgeous choruses that are like a soothing balm over the tension. There’s an excellent blend of violin and folk guitar leads between verses that brings things into an awesome Aussie-Western vibe— its a great one folks.
“Moscovium” is a tale that leaves cryptic details about “Where insiders see things that will forever haunt their dreams” and takes place on the “salt flats of Groom Lake” aka Area 51. It expertly weaves between the major moods of the album– moody folk and noise rock. It's an eventful closer that branches off in many glorious tangents, exploding with tons of the trademark noise, chaos and guitar-wailing that the band is known for– all the way to the very last second of squelching feedback. This track will surely kill in a live setting.
The band’s fourth record Fairyland Codex is another great full-length addition to their discography; it has the hallmarks of a very solid album with great highs, consistency and rare lows. While there are plenty of fun brash moments, it does have a higher ratio in the mellow and gloomy zone. The album succeeds the most when it finds a perfect balance of zany fun and melancholy, because when the record looms too long in the gloom, it can tend to feel a little more heavy than enjoyable. At the end of the day, you need enough party with your hangover…luckily there’s just enough party. Ultimately, the record is often thrilling, clever, off-the-wall, and very unique compared to most of the formulaic corpo-crap you hear out there these days… so, long live the Fuck Storm, baby! Like every Tropical Fuck Strom release, Fairyland Codex finds its success through the creative, original and brave brains behind the operation. This band is willing to go to great lengths to show the world how they see music differently– and it's a very strange and beautiful thing.
Occult Highlights: Irukandji Syndrome, Teeth Marché, Bloodsport, Goon Show, Bye Bye Snake Eyes
(…but we recommend you spin the whole thing while you wear shorts in court)