TROPIC OF YOUTH - EP REVIEW

Tropic Of Youth - Sun City EP (Plastic Fish Records) 
Tropic Of Youth - Sun City EP

Release Date: 7th April 2014

Man, Vampire Weekend have got a lot to answer for. I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, it's just that their guitar sound pervades a lot of areas now, including Sheffield indie-pop bands, apparently. Tropic Of Youth are one such band and you only need to get about 10 seconds in to the opening track of this EP, 'Poa Nichizi Kama Ndizi' to hear those guitar influences. Having said that, the next track, 'Hot Season', has a guitar riff that is pure sun-rise stuff and makes you want to stand on a stand on a sun drenched balcony before drinking some freshly squeezed orange juice. Naked. 'You' is a little less sunny and has a Maccabees feel to it as the drums patter in the background and the guitar work takes centre stage again.

Bands like Tropic Of Youth and Swim Deep are ploughing a successful furrow in dreamy, almost nostalgic indie with luscious melodies which are almost impossible to resist. 'We Can', for example, returns to the earlier guitar themes but has that very real feeling of optimism that you get at the end of an engaging film when the main protagonist wins the battle or gets the girl. The final track on this short collection is 'Post Youth' is another more straightforward indie track but with some nice 80s indie overtones that make you think of Simple Minds or the Cure as well as Foals. This is pretty promising stuff from the Steel City quartet and I hope they can get a good summer of gigs under their belt before they lose too much of their innocence and inquisitiveness. Those are the two qualities that make this music so appealing, after all.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/TropicofYouthMusic?fref=ts

Live Dates:

9th April - Shacklewell Arms, London

18th April - The Plug, Sheffield w/Jaws + The Magic Gang 

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