- Few bands are as iconoclastic as Tropical Fuck Storm. Resisting classification, they have carved themselves a niche with their socio-politically charged lyrics, dissonant guitars, chilling harmonies and ominous soundscapes. Stylistic choices aside, underpinning their caustic psych-rock is a penchant for pop-hooks and literary lyrics. Their third album in four years, Deep States is a fitting addition to their burgeoning catalogue. While it might not be as consistent as 2019’s Braindrops, none of the songs on Deep States would feel out of place on either of the band’s predecessors. However, it feels like more of a collection of songs than a homogenous album. Maybe a crowd of tearaways, flying willfuly in every direction is exactly what we should've expected from TFS?

Never one to shy away from novel topics, frontman Gareth Liddiard kicks off the album with the ambitiously titled, The Greatest Story Ever Told which chronicles the return (or second return?) of Jesus Christ. Bombastic right off the bat, the opener hits hard with heavy guitars reminiscent of the early work from The Drones until is spirals into a cataclysmic guitar solo. Following suit, is the acronymic G.A.F.F. (or Give A Fuck Fatigue). The track is Liddiard at his lyrical best as he manages to intertwine moments of vitriol with intellect and humour. This is typified in the dichotomous lines, “I’m not a Kamikaze / Don’t wanna die a martyr / I’m just looking for a latte and fucking phone charger”. In the next verse, things leave the planet, as Liddiard looks to up to the skies and “The Gimbals, the Tic-Tacs” before focusing back down on the fundamentals with the line, “There’s too much information / I can’t get an erection”.

A band keenly attuned to current events, a COVID-19 song was inevitable on their 2021 album. The result is the colloquially titled Bumma Sanger, with its wordplay chorus “this was supposed to be a summer banger / but now it’s just another bumma sanger”. Borrowing from the realities of the lockdown lifestyle, shear boredom and references to Kurt Vonnegut’s sci-fi classic Cat’s Cradle, Tropical Fuck Storm once again nail the topical song; a feat that only they could pull off with such gusto. Later on, penultimate track Legal Ghost is a change of gears and a powerful highlight. A sequel of sorts to Aspirin from their previous album, it is a melancholic showstopper to finish off the album with a mostly instrumental closer. All-in-all this is another extravagant effort from a peerless Australian band that, lunging crazily in all directions or not, is no doubt one of the best operating today.

- Jon Cloumassis.