With spring slowly rolling into summer, it’s high time for a new High Tropics release- and they have phenomenally delivered with a fun fuelled track ‘Caroline’. This latest release brings a new aspect to the band, as surf rock takes on garage pop in a never-ending battle over sonic dominance.
Reminiscent of very, very early Dune Rats, with vocal stylings bringing a whole different vibe - Violent Soho’s absolute tune ‘Canada’ springing right into my mind - High Tropics really hit the garage-pop/rock nail on the head here, with a gorgeous and ever-evolving sound that stays true to their origins and earlier releases.
Light hearted and uplighting guitar riffs carry the song, whilst crooned vocals add to the summery vibe - garnering enthusiasm for warm sunny days ahead, with beach days galore and sand everywhere. Though, unlike sand, this song isn't coarse, or rough - however that's where the dissimilarities end as it absolutely gets everywhere (in your head… seriously. It’s been stuck in my head on loop).
This song describes unrequited love and yearning with sweet yet sorrowful lyrics like 'My hearts breaking every step you take/ you didn't have the guts to stay' .
In my mind, if the classic movie-musical Grease was filmed in modern day Australia, this song would be sung to win over Sandy's (Caroline's) heart by Danny- with great success. Instead of a magical car flying off into the sky because really, how dumb is that- they would catch a beaut wave on a tandem longboard off into the burnt orange sunset. It's romantic, it's warm, it's just purely lovely in all the best ways.
High Tropics, formed by Queenslander Josh Stewart, really stays true to its home, as the songs they release are just as warm and sunny as the location they were birthed and brought to life in. With previous releases like ‘You Never Made it Easy’ and ‘Wait for You’ racking up over half a million combined streams online, ‘Caroline’ is already well on its way to critical acclaim, even being featured in the classic Spotify playlist ‘Indie Fuzz’, which hosts Aussie classics like Ruby Fields, beabadoobee, and Hockey Dad. To be in the same playlist as these giants is a huge leap towards stardom for the young rock outfit.
Bigger and better things are sure to come for them - I don't know how, because this track is a certified banger- but there's bound to be more success somewhere in that magical wave - framed sunset on the near horizon.