Tropical Popsicle

Tropical Popsicle // Dawn of Delight
Volar Records
3.75/5 Pies

Recommended Track: Tethers

Tropical Popscicle’s Dawn of Delight is a wonderful record. It has a pop sensibility and covers a wide variety of moods. From the doomy “Universe of God Shadow” to the almost sweet Barrett-esque folk of “The Omni-Present Heart Shield”, there is a multi-directional tinge to the entire record but the band maintains a consistent aesthetic, further developing their sound as a whole.

The sounds on Dawn of Delight are characterized by rhythms that are pulsing, throbbing and metronomic. The stoic drumming rests on one my favorite principles that more is less, and indeed the album scores high marks on conscious subtraction of unnecessary drum spattering. The layers of guitar noodles place you in a trance. It’s a dream that is jarring, but satisfying in the end. Upon every listen I discover a little bit more about the record and my appreciation grows.

Song two “Age of Attraction” sounds hopeful. It has a dense sonic quality that adds ample tension to album’s overall sense of movement. The pulsing kick drum tones keep the song moving along at a steady pace. Song three “Ghost Beacons” is a familiar tune if you have been paying attention to Tropical Popscicle’s other releases in the last year. There is more breathing room in this song. It ventures into a trippy variety of psych rather than the pulsing krautrock-ing type. Unfortunately, this song is so good, it kind of takes away from the satisfyingly homogeneous sounds heard on the rest of the record.

Dawn of Delight gets better as it grows on you. Many of the best songs on the record fall toward the middle-end where the band seems to hit its stride creatively. Space is made for structureless ghostly noise ballad “Canyons”, and at 2:05 minutes long, it is not overly indulgent. Its celestial cathedral organ sounds delightfully prepare you for the tune, “Cathedral City”, a pop song with ample room to grow on you. In the album’s second half, “Havana” reaches a crest of momentum before resolving most satisfyingly into “The Omni Present Heart Shield”, a folky ballad that challenges you to question your identity as an adult in the present world. Have you forgotten who you are? Are you too much a product of what expectations you think society has for you? “Think about that little voice inside of your soul,” the songs says. Without sounding too preachy, the band instructs you to question monolithic ideas and tomes.

If Dawn of Delight is profound in any way, it is that it is dark and moody without being too self-consciously so. While a lot of spooky bands have spewed their colorless aesthetic out into the world, Tropical Popsicle does it without the effort and tacky consciousness of that lot. Their music is truly brooding and challenging, and doesn’t just give that appearance to fit a niche and sell its records. There are choices in decoration that could have been more carefully articulated. In fact, the album misses out on fitting into too specific a niche and can superficially remind you too much perhaps of the last records from Crystal Stilts. But I hope you dig deeper and give Dawn of Delight 2-3 spins before calling it a day. I think you will be quite pleased by that second or third listen. - Lo-Pie

I’ve been waiting for Tropical Popsicle’s debut LP for a minute now and The Dawn Of Delight is finally arriving via Volar Records this May. Stream a handful of songs below (including standout track “Ghost Beacons”): - I Guess I'm Floating

Tropical Popsicle
Dawn of Delight

The synthesized vocals and garage-style production make the songs on this debut record sound like they exist beneath a layer of chromosaturated static. You have to work hard to see what's happening behind the clouds, but there's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. The meandering guitars, sweetly sung lyrics and soundtrack of interludes are all unselfconscious and experimental, without being douchey, and that feels refreshing. After giving it more than a few listens, you'll realize it's really just as the graphic cover art promises—a slightly naughty, '80s-style collage of earthy and synthetic pieces that don't at first make much sense, but then suddenly become beautiful and grimy, shallow and deep all at the same time. Despite what the name might suggest, the album sounds best when listened to on a long, straight, empty road in the dead of night. As frontman Tim Hines sings: "It's easy to wander blindly and that is all."

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—Natalie Jacobs - San Diego City Beat

Timothy Hines is a clean-cut guy. He has a solid jawline, neatly combed hair and sharp sartorial taste. Over the years, as a member of local bands The Stereotypes and Lights On, he’s developed a reputation for crafting sophisticated indie-rock tunes with a pop sensibility.

Two years ago, though, Hines decided to take a new, markedly cruder approach to songwriting. Holed up in his house in La Mesa, he’d stay awake late into the night and bang out songs with little regard for complexity or production quality.

“I would usually be either on my way to getting drunk or just about drunk, and then get even more drunk,” he recalls. The songs “would metabolize ’til about 4 or 5 in the morning, 6 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes I would be passed out on the floor with my computer feeding back.”

At first, Hines didn’t plan to do anything with the songs. But he eventually put together a backing band, with Kyle Whatley on guitar and keyboards, Chase Elliott on bass and Ryan Hand on drums. They started playing shows in mid-2011.

Now, Tropical Popsicle is one of the most enthralling indie bands in the city. Specializing in trippy, synth-infused psych-rock, they strike a fine line between pop and gloom with their grimy production quality, fierce live shows and quirky sense of humor.

Whimsy is a strong part of the band’s aesthetic: In the video for their song “The Tethers,” the members are cast in silhouette as dancing lava lamps. But the band has a darker side. Hines and Hand both have a fascination with conspiracy theories and the writings of famed occultist Aleister Crowley; Whatley says he was attracted to the murky tones and somber minor chords of Hines’ songs.

On Dawn of Delight, Tropical Popsicle’s debut album—which comes out on local label Volar Records in January and will be released in Europe via French label Talitres—some of the best songs are the darkest. Mid-tempo track “The Beach with No Footprints” (currently available on a Volar 7-inch) creeps along with a shimmering, syncopated drum machine and a spy-movie bass line. Propulsive closer “Universe of God Shadow” evokes the blood-red skies and talking cactuses of a peyote trip gone sour.

Hines doesn’t want to limit the band exclusively to bad vibes, though. On album highlight “Ghost Beacons” (also out via Volar on a 7-inch) the deliberately paced beat and regal vocal melody complement a glorious spiral of guitars and synths.

“It’s like living your life, dude,” Hines says. “These times are fucked up right now, right? But there’s also really good times. On my way here, I was thinking about how awesome it was that I actually have a job.”

In a freewheeling, 90-minute interview at a coffeehouse in Golden Hill, the band’s good humor is on full display. As we talk, the four members trip over each other as we crack jokes about everything from time management to autoerotic asphyxiation.

Soon, the conversation turns to “beach goth,” an indierock micro-genre that bloggers and music writers have used to describe the band. While the term is most commonly associated with The Growlers, a ragtag garage band from Orange County, it’s gained wider usage lately, along with other niche terms like “seapunk” and “twinklecore.” In response, the guys in Tropical Popsicle have included “beach goth” in the “Genre” section on their Facebook page, alongside made-up categories like “Snubstep” and “jim jam.”

“It’s a total joke, and somehow people have picked up on that and ran with it,” Hand says about the “beach goth” craze. He has no use for such categories. “You can deconstruct whatever you want. Make your own collage.”

But while beach goth might not be a very useful term—to me, The Growlers sound more like pirates than goths—it’s accurate with Tropical Popsicle in at least one way.

Recently, two of the band’s songs were featured in The Distant Shores, a surfing video produced by Surfer magazine. In one segment, their song “The View from the Dihedral Wall” plays while a group of surfers conquers the freezing-cold breaks of Norway, battling wind and hail. It’s a fitting scene for the track’s menacing synth-drones.

“If we were going to be affiliated with any kind of surf video,” Hand says, “that was probably the one.”

The band’s been busy lately. This week, they’re playing some West Coast dates with SISU, an L.A. band featuring Dum Dum Girls drummer Sandra Vu. They’re planning to set up a European tour for early next year, in time for Dawn of Delight’s release on Talitres.

These days, they’ve been taking a more collaborative approach to songwriting. Most of Dawn of Delight consists of Hines’ original home productions, but “Ghost Beacons” was a full-band effort.

At this point, Hines doesn’t plan to return to his old, sophisticated ways anytime soon.

“I’ve done that for years, and I don’t really want that in this band. I’m just going to write simple songs,” he says. “You know, just really caveman-like.”

Tropical Popsicle plays with SISU - San Diego CityBeat

With the name Tropical Popsicle and a hometown of San Diego, one would be forgiven if they expected these dudes to be yet another reverb-heavy, surf-inspired beach pop band. However, “Skulls In The Stars”, the B side of their latest 7” on Volar Records, draws its inspiration from a darker, moodier place. It’s an unabashed throwback to mid 80s dream pop, with ringing guitars, Peter Hook-style bass, and an overall haze lifted from The Cure. Pop nerds should head over to Volar to pre-order the single, which is streaming now on Bandcamp. - Get Bent

Tropical Popsicle // Ghost Beacons EP
Volar
3.5/5 Pies

Recommended Track: Skulls in the Stars

Tropical Popsicle’s “Ghost Beacons” EP contains two songs that bring together excellent songwriting and lyrical delivery from frontman Timothy Hines. Each track sits comfortably among comparisons to bands like The Chills, Spacemen 3 and The Stone Roses, but the EP also rips heavily from 1960's psychedelia. It is thoughtful and poetic pop music that appears to be built on layers of instrumentation. Synths, guitars and vocals double over themselves, cascading down some paisley colored time machine whilst picking up bits and pieces of whatever Mr. Hines fancies at that particular moment. The melodies, both vocal and guitar, offer delicious hooks. As you sink your teeth in, however, you will notice some jarring chords and percussion. The overall sound is beautiful and aggressive, fay and also assertive. I know it sounds difficult to accomplish, but it’s done through the choices made in the engineering and production processes.

Fairly aggressive through headphones, the recording gives the tracks a punchy rhythm sound throughout, but especially when played through speakers. The sounds are crisp and starched. Hines’ well-articulated vocals are, along with the guitars, given a heavy-handed washed out sound that is still quite tasteful with the blissed-out songwriting. That said, there is an ominous quality in the criss-crossing of melodies and the oft-struck dark notes that permeate the EP.

“Skulls in the Stars”, my personal favorite, fades in like a party that has already been going on for sometime. It’s not just any party either. You are in the clouds, or in the seat of a MGB with the top down staring at a sky full of stars on a cool night. Either way you were invited to the party and happy you came. You are so happy, in fact, that you forget to notice that there is an incessant tambourine for the first minute or so that would be too obnoxious in any other song. Instead, you cruise along until you reach your destination, afterwards returning back to your old boring life where things just aren’t quite as interesting in the silence. Thankfully, “Ghost Beacons” streams endlessly on Tropical Popsicle’s BandCamp page. - Lo-Pie

Amid all the activity at Volar Records these days, we tracked down Tropical Popsicle's frontman Tim Hines to discuss today's psychic channelled sounds from the band that hates your surfy crap beach party music. While word of the upcoming Trop Pop full length record percolates in rumors, Volar Records are about to re-release their first single "Beach with No Footprints" ahead of their "Ghost Beacons" single. Tim and I discuss all this and more at length as we entered the #hashtag darkness with inquisitive minds.

People like throwing the goth-y tags around with you guys but I feel like it's a cop out. How does Tropical Popsicle define themselves without press tag-lines?

Yeah the goth tag is something that I wasn't really thinking about or equating to when I was originally crafting the initial songs and sound of the band. Just like most artists and musicians these days, its often difficult to define your sound or style, or quantify it into any particular genre. Especially if a band is eclectic in any sense. I'd like to think that the Trop Pop catalog as a whole, is pretty eclectic. I am constantly influenced by a lot of different styles and genres of music as well as many other things. Narrowing that down to a few tags is necessary for the general public and press as a short cut to thinking. But ultimately we dont mind the goth tag, goth is cool shit. So we'll just use this: Psyche/Goth/Post-Punk/Minimal Wave etc etc. See, this list can just keep going on!

Probably the least favorite question but are there any anecdotes about the band name that you all are not sick of talking about yet?

Yeah, here's the story on that: I was spinning records at a local club a few years back, the promoter asked if I had a DJ name. I of course didn't because Im not a DJ, just an occasional music selector who spins my favorite deep cuts for anyone who cares to listen. The first thing that popped in my head was Tropical Popsicle. I think this was a jab at all the surfy beach music crap that was going around at the time. A local weekly in San Diego printed a week later something to the effect of, 'Tim Hines of Lights On, my old band, has a new side project call Tropical Popsicle', which wasn't the case at the time. I was working on all these songs in my bedroom, and when I had a small bundle, did a Facebook band page and called it Tropical Popsicle, for lack of a better name. That and not really giving a shit. So it just stuck by default.

Despite the 60s horror-beach party hype, your sound for me resurrects the new wave and actually makes it new, re-channeled and wired for today's audience. From the analogue crackle to the keys, production and the attitude, what is the secret to making timeless music?

I think the key to making timeless music is really taking all the raddest elements, from all of your favorite bands and styles of music, regardless of what's 'buzzing' at the time, and somehow interpreting that into your own thing. Harness all the swagger and tenacity that those artist put into their craft, and perfect your own. We all know that there's nothing new in the world of music, i'ts all been done and we're definitely not inventing anything new. But if you can properly intoxicate your self in the spirit of everything that's good in the last 100 years, you've got a leg up.

"Ghost Beacons" has an ambient synth quality you can get lost in. How do you approach making music that evokes both the familiar while being fresh at the same time?

I think I kinda answered this with the last question. I'm hoping that our enthusiasm while recording the tune helped a bit with that. We felt we had something pretty cool when we created the bare bones of that song, with all of its minimal qualities, and big sections of sparkly synths and guitars.

A lot of artists these days are obsessed with creating psychic channelled sounds in the mix, why do you feel that music is turning more toward capturing metaphysics on record as of late?

Yeah, that is interesting isn't it. I think alot of people are phony when they project that actually. There's been a real fad lately of using upside down crosses, pentagrams, Baphomet and all that. It's a cool factor these days to be anti- Christianity. It really makes me want to recoil from that in fear of being lumped in with the poseurs. I grew up in the psychic and metaphysical world primarily from my Mother who has been practicing that stuff since the 60s. Tarot, numerology, astrology, the occult, clairvoyance, astral projection etc. I study and practice certain elements of this. I use it in writing lyrics and tones cause I think it's just a different slant than the usual trite BS that people often write about. Its almost anti-climatic, but very mysterious and can convey several meanings, just like the Bible or the Quran.

What is the state of DIY San Diego these days?

Everyone's DIY everywhere I think. Its the only way to get anything done. No one will do anything for you these da - IMPOSE Magazine

It’s always a bit difficult to keep track of the goings on of the bands we write about. I’ve got Bandcamp pages in my RSS feed, labels in my Soundcloud feed, “Liked” bands in my Facebook feed, followees in my Twitter feed, and flagged email addresses. And still, still, I miss a hell of a lot. Tropical Popsicle first landed on our radar with last year’s “The Age Of Attraction” with some familiar, magnificent riffs that I couldn’t quite place. I’d thought they disappeared completely until a week ago when this landed in my lap:

Tropical Popsicle – Ghost Beacons

So they’ve traded in the rough and tumble lo-fi production of “Age of Attraction” for something a bit more Bose, but luckily beneath the static is some serious talent (unlike some of those washed out bands, pun intended). “Ghost Beacons” is in every way bigger, louder, brighter and more commanding. It’s not revolutionary but it doesn’t try to be, it just wants to command your attention, “glorious audience” and all. It’s about as British as an 80's night in Hollywood can get and I’m right there with it, doing lines with Corey Feldman at Ian McCulloch’s pool party.

Listen to more from Topical Popsicle on Soundcloud and grab the new 7? on orange wax via Volar Records » - I Guess I'm Floating

These party animals ingest way too much sugar on this new track.

Tropical Popsicle are probably some of the most sugar addled, acid obsessed freaks we can think of and they have no intentions of stopping their candy colored quest for sound. This time round, they've raised the stakes: on new song "Ghost Beacons" Tropical Popsicle sound like they've ingested two dozen Fruit-Roll Ups. "Ghost Beacons" indeed shines a beacon of flashing neon lights from tender guitar lines and cascading synth plucks. The chugging bass sounds like the musical equivalent to a chocolate cake, while synth squeals recall a lost glam transmission from the distant future. The tension of the song is barely present until a chorus-like release consumes listeners into a Disney roller coaster gone terribly wrong. There's something nearly anthemic about "Ghost Beacons," as Tropical Popsicle soundtrack a fruity, sweet and succulent themed end of days. Though Tropical Popsicle play gooey, light jams, their songs still sound like they're all having bad trips. Their only way to fight them off? More candy.

Tropical Popsicles' second 7" "Ghost Beacons / Skulls in the Stars" is out August 31 via Volar Records. You can stream "Ghost Beacons" below. - IMPOSE Magazine

Simply stunning and overwhelming track and video, the San Diego dark/tropical band Tropical Popsicle is making magic with a amalgamations of epic concepts, it starts with a easy association to psych California sunny surf-rock but soon it moves into dark synth-wave vibes, pulsating gloom horny bass and Joy Division and Bauhaus ghosts dancing and jumping of joy, didn't knew about this band but will keep it under my radar for sure. "The Tethers" is taken from the S/T EP released in 2011 and a LP is expected this year - Audio Pleasures

San Diego’s Tropical Popsicle are still fresh on the scene. So far the down-town pysch-pop group released a 7” and their Age of Attraction EP, just one year ago.

Today they release new single “Ghost Beacons,” which is set to first appear on their Ghost Beacons 7”, which also features a second track entitled “Skulls in the Stars.” You can hear and download the former of the two just below.





Tropical Popsicle’s debut full-length will come out this fall via Volar Records. - Filter Magazine

Almost as entertaining as the music are the various rock writer attempts to define San Diego - based Tropical Popsicle:

"Lava lamp people" "Dark acid trip and occult fantasy" "A trio of gothy bad trippers"

Darkness and bad acid? The occult and lava lamps? Where I hear vintage So-Cal beach chords and simple patterns, others hear trippy acid-wash gloom. Really?

"Well, I kind of intended for it to be that way," says Tim Hines. "But everybody hears different things. What'd you hear?" He laughs. "Waterslides, and the tropics, and popsicles? Shit like that?"

Hines, of La Mesa, plays guitar and sings and writes most of the music. He says his influences are what he calls "60's stuff. My parents grew up in that era. Jefferson Airplane, Creem, 13th Floor Elevators. And that's what I grew up listening to."

He says he got into new wave and post punk bands for a while before and during high school. "But I went back to psychedelic rock in my late teens, so I never really left it."

Tropical Popsicle has likewise been called a mix of post punk, psychedelic, and Goth rolled into one. "The music is kind of scatterbrained like me," he told the Reader in April. "It's all over the map, whatever my state of mind is that week, that month, that moment."
On the eve of kicking off their first west coast tour, Impose magazine debuted the Trop Pop's latest video for "The Tethers" single from The Age of Attraction EP. After last year's release of The Beach With No Footprints 7" on Volar Records and appearances at Noise Pop and CMJ Festivals, things are looking up for the band that began life as a recording project.

Tropical Popsicle will appear in San Diego at the Soda Bar, Friday June 22. - San Diego Reader

Tropical Popsicle’s song “The Tethers” and the accompanying video can best be described as an indie retro explosion. And, while seeming a bit cluttered and noisy at first, “The Tethers” is really quite fantastic. The song comes off their latest EP titled The Age of Attraction and with a new video for this single, Tropical Popsicle should soon be getting the attention they deserve.


“The Tethers” alone sounds like the sort of dream one has after taking a copious amount of drugs and then falling asleep. The video, not surprisingly, reflects this to a tee. With slow, soft graphics and the way every band member is simply a silhouette with weird lava lamp images inside, it’s hard not to become entranced and lost in the song. The frequent spaceship graphics and pictures of galaxies further this mindset and I’m sure if I was high right now, this would be an ethereal experience for me.

The song itself seems a bit repetitive – almost like it’s the same chorus repeated over and over again – yet if you listen to both the lyrics and the intricate layering of each instrumental sound, it all starts to make sense musically. With long drawn out lyrics about a lost direction and a wavering and weaving guitar line, it’s hard to not get drawn into the song. Such a dream like feel is what makes this song and this video so unique.

I would love to tell you that Tropical Popsicle puts on an impressive live show that just blows your mind but I’d only be going on what I’ve heard of their shows. However, Trop Pop has gotten started on their west coast tour so those of you in Washington, Oregon, and California need to make sure you check out the retro, indie dream trip that is Tropical Popsicle - Rock NYC

22. Tropical Popsicle — “Havana” - PORTALS

Tropical Popsicle just dropped a new video, which you can watch above, for “The Tethers,” a cut from the recently released digital EP. You can stream that EP or purchase it on their Bandcamp. Check out their tour dates below.

16 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
17 San Francisco, CA - Vacation Vintage
19 Seattle, WA - The Funhouse
20 Portland, OR - The Slabhouse
21 Chico, CA - Origami
22 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
26 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell (FYF Presents w/ The Men) - Get Bent

Last summer I wrote about Tropical Popsicle‘s song “Age of Consent” as a jam for “doing stupid shit like throwing bologna on [cars]” and going skinny dipping, and I sincerely hope some of that happened under their influence. Now we’re in a new summer and there’s a whole new batch of adolescence to explore in “The Tethers.” The video, directed by Stephen Schultz, takes viewers on a psychedelic joyride through a tie dyed View-Master — which is a pretty good way to start an LSD trip.

West Coasters can check the band out on tour here » - I Guess I'm Floating

The Skinny: Continuing on the dark acid trip and occult fantasy journey that is Tropical Popsicle, the San Diego foursome unveiled their latest video for "The Tethers" off The Age of Attraction EP and the kick off their first west coast tour. After last year's release of The Beach With No Footprints 7" on Volar Records, appearances at Noise Pop and CMJ Festivals and garnering critical acclaim from tastemaking blogs, Tropical Popsicle continue to coax fans to return for more. - Pure Grain Audio

Tropical Popsicle, a foursome out of San Diego, have a sound and a style that evoke both the sweet sugariness of their band name along with a cynical nod towards perhaps that same object—the overly saturated, obviously dyed treat that fueled so many of our childhoods, and marked and reflected the dawn of a new commercial age. But that may be peeking in a bit too far.

Either way, the band (our actual focus) has just released a new video for “The Tethers,” which comes off their 2011 The Age of Attraction EP. Check it out below. Followed by tour dates. - FILTER Magazine

San Diego's Tropical Popsicle have committed to its neo-psych sound like no band before them and transformed themselves into vibrant lava lamp people. As the result of a radioactive spider bite under an already bad acid trip, Tropicle Popsicle have surpassed the fried explorations of the 13th Floor Elevators tenfold, by living the experience with their entire being. Rather than fight crime, the band has chosen to focus all its efforts into writing songs and seeking day trippers across the globe to assist in their mind-altering journey. Previous summer tours include: the Pyramids, The Sphinx, Bonaroo, and Lake Tahoe.

"The Tethers" is off Tropical Popsicle's The Age of Attraction EP, which can be heard at Top Pop's Bandcamp and purchased for $3.

Tropical Popsicle's west coast tour:
June
16 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
17 San Francisco, CA - Vacation Vintage
19 Seattle, WA - The Funhouse
20 Portland, OR - The Slabhouse
21 Chico, CA - Origami
22 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
26 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell (FYF Presents w/ The Men) - IMPOSE Magazine

VIDEO DU JOUR OF THE DAY: TROPICAL POPSICLE "The Tethers"

"The Tethers" video featured. - Dirty Laundry TV

"San Diego's Tropical Popsicle have a trippy new video for their song "The Tethers" which you can also watch below." - Brooklyn Vegan

Somewhere in the shadows beneath a consummate sun-drenched pace of life lies hidden occult fantasies that keep you up at night, wherein Tropical Popsicle beckons you into their veiled world. Take the jangly melodies of 60’s garage jams and surf rock inspired by Southern California beaches and cast a psychedelic gloom across the whole coastline; Tropical Popsicle brings the doleful feel of the end of summer, over and over again. After years playing in straight forward pop bands like the Stereotypes and Lights On, Tim Hines has ventured into his latest solo project, Tropical Popsicle. While still grounded in smart, pop sensibility, Hines’ new sound is layered with complexity and cryptic vagueness. We recently chatted with Tim about is favorite gig, how he discovers new tunes, and where you can see Tropical Popsicle next.

When did you decide to make a career/focus of music?

I decided that music was my calling when I was about 18 after I started messing around with recording songs I had onto a 4 track. Layering instruments on top of each other and making noise was an instant addiction.

What’s the best gig you ever played?

A tie between opening up for the Buzzcocks or Supergrass, both sold out.

Back in the day, most people found music on the radio or MTV. Obviously, today there is a plethora of ways to hear about new music. How do you find new bands or artists that you like to listen to?

I actually discover most of the new stuff out there from listening to KCRW (Santa Monica College Radio) or from posts that friends put up on Facebook.

What’s the most challenging thing about being an emerging artist personally, for you?

Competing with a million other emerging artists! The rapid and unpredictable rise and fall of buzz via blogs. It’s a roller coaster, you’re hot for one week and than gone until you make your next move. Fortunately, the tricks continue to fall out my sleeves…

What’s your next big gig coming up? When/Where?

We’re playing the grand finale at The Desert Daze Festival on April 22 in the Palm Springs Desert with Here We Go Magic, Akron/Family, Mini Mansions and a bunch of other great bands.

Check out more on Tropical Popsicle here. - Sonicbids

Tropical Popsicle: Tropical Popsicle frontman Tim Hines is just too damn talented—we ran a feature on his other band, Lights On, in the 2010 Local Music Issue. This up-and-coming post-punk band isn’t quite as radio-friendly as Hines’ previous bands, but its haunting melodies, hypnotic grooves and dreamy live shows are still irresistible. What’s more, they offer a wonderfully dark alternative to trendier strains of indie-punk and retro-rock. - San Diego City Beat

"Tropical Popsicle - San Diego four-piece band that has yet to settle on any specific niche, much less any genre. I don’t know what to call it, but I like it." - Do The Astral Plane

Back in June, Volar Records released Tropical Popsicle’s debut 7” “The Beach With No Footprints”, and upon first listen I was immediately hooked. Their sound is a cross somewhere between Syd Barret and Suicide, it’s as equally tripped out as it dark and mysterious. Their latest offering “Queen Of New York” encompasses those same attributes, but adds a very welcoming forceful, almost JaMC approach to pushing out a wall of guitar haze. - Get Bent

Pulling from an array of 1960s influences, multi-instrumentalist Timothy Hines created a damn near perfect mesh between rock, garage pop, surf and psychedelia under the moniker Tropical Popsicle. After recruiting three band members, the San Diego-based outfit released a 7” and an EP in June, both on Valor Records. Glimpses of The Beach Boys' famous surf rock can be found in The Age Of Attraction EP’s sun-bleached title track, while the macabre lo-fi psychedelia of The 13th Floor Elevators mixed with The Doors' classic rock saturates tracks like “The Universe of God Shadow.” With Hines’ ability to write accessible songs that transcend genres, while staying true to DIY lo-fi recording techniques, it is no wonder Tropical Popsicle has opened for lo-fi garage poppers Times New Viking, and performed at this year’s CMJ music festival in October. My fingers are crossed for an LP release in 2012. - Katrina Nattress - The Deli (LA)

Tropical Popsicle is Interviewed by Dirty Laundry TV during CMJ 2011 - Dirty Laundry TV

Video of Tropical Popsicle playing "The Age of Attraction" live at Cake Shop during CMJ 2011 - Dirty Laundry TV

Video of Tropical Popsicle playing "Always Awake In Shadows" live at Cake Shop during CMJ 2011 - Dirty Laundry TV

Originally a solo endeavor, San Diego's Tropical Popsicle eventually grew into a 4-piece fronted by vocalist Timothy Hines (Lights On, the Stereotypes). Playing shimmery, feel-good melodies soaked in a blanket of muffled reverb, the band's strain of psychedelic surf-rock calls to mind a mix of Beach Fossils and Real Estate.

**Visit URL for Video of In-Studio Performance & Interview - BreakThru Radio

Somewhere in the shadows beneath a consummate sun-drenched pace of life lies hidden occult fantasies sure to keep you up at night, wherein Tropical Popsicle beckons you into their veiled world. After years playing in straight forward pop bands like the Stereotypes and Lights On, Tim Hines founded the band. With the addition of Kyle Whatley (guitar, organ, backing vox), Chase Elliott (bass and synths), and Ryan Hand (drums & rattles), Trop Pop has taken what Hines started to new realms with “The Age of Attraction” EP, exemplified by the title track, a beautiful, hazy gem, tinged with melancholy and infused with timeless hooks that linger for days. tropicalpopsicle.bandcamp.com - BMI

Be listening to DIY Radio today at 5pm Eastern*, 4p Central* & 2100 BST for an all-new, 2-hour Big Beat'cast. I'll introduce you to a few bands that turned heads at the recent CMJ Festival in New York like ALABAMA SHAKES, FIDLAR, and TROPICAL POPSICLE. You'll also hear from a bunch of bands playing this weekend's FUN FUN FUN FEST here in Austin: M83, WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS, SPOON, NEON INDIAN, LYKKE LI and THE DAMNED to name just a few. Plus, hear the latest from THE STRANGE BOYS, WASHED OUT, THEE OH SEES, KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS, and the solo debut of KATE JACKSON of The Long Blondes. Just press play to start with one of the best tunes of the year from THE BLACK KEYS. It's like having a kickass jukebox on shuffle.
- The Big Beat

Tropical Popsicle - This San Diego group embodies the popular lo-fi, shoegazey garage rock of the moment… but they do it better. Instead of boring me, Timothy Hines’ deadpan delivery sucked me in. - Sonic Smorgasbord

Best Band with a Bad Name: Tropical Popsicle

San Diego bands like Spacemen 3 (see also Crocodiles and The Soft Pack). Tropical Popsicle make psychedelic pop a la BJM or JAMC and kept things entertaining with a homemade lightshow and plenty of reverb. Horrible name, though. - Sound Bites NYC

I’m writing about act who has named himself ‘Tropical Popsicle’. I’m slightly embarrassed that I’m bigging up someone who has dubbed himself this (seems like a common theme for us SNHsters) but every time I listen to Tim Hines, otherwise know as Mr Tropical Popsicle, I forgive him; because of his most excellent tunes genuinely do redeem him.

Glazed with an ethereal haze of guitar fuzz Tim troops out a downright awesome array of dark, grungy summer surf psychedelic rock. Echoes of Crystal Stilts, Dirty Beaches and Beach Fossils ring out jubilantly.

TP happens to be playing in San Diego while I’m there, so will be sure to swing by and check the show out. I suggest you do similar and watch this video. NOW! - SA - Scene Not Herd

Based in San Diego, rising post-punk band Tropical Popsicle weave intimate melodies and pop hooks under a blanket of lo-fi haze. We spoke with Tim and Chase after their Cake Shop performance about their sound, a penchant for fog machines, and opening for Lana Del Ray. Read the interview and grab a free mp3 from the band after the jump…


MP3.com: Where ‘s home for you guys?
Tim: I’ve lived in San Diego my whole life, but I was born in New Jersey.
Chase: I grew up in Orange County, then moved to San Diego and have lived there for eight years.

MP3: How is the music scene in San Diego?
Chase: It’s exciting, it’s doing very well. There are a lot of great bands coming out. We’re doing an in-studio session with Break the Radio on Friday, there’s Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls…we’re excited to be a part of it.
Tim: We probably won’t be moving to LA or NYC anytime soon like everybody else.

MP3: How did Tropical Popsicle start?
Tim: It started off as a pet, solo project that I was doing while I was in another band, and then it just started to pick up interest. I knew these guys in the band, and really wanted to work with them so we got the band together with just a handful of songs. Our first show was only about five songs long.

MP3: How would you guys describe your sound?
Tim: Goth, psychedelica, little bits of new wave all merged into one.
Chase: It is a dark sound, but there are melodies and hooks intertwined so it has an appeal even though it is pulled back from the mainstream.
Tim: It’s definitely influenced by a lot of sixties stuff. Bands like Bauhaus really come out a lot in my writing.

MP3: What is the band’s live setup?
Chase: A lot of multitasking.
Tim: I play keyboards and guitar, as does the other guitarist Kyle, and Chase plays bass and drums. A minimal drum setup, like Velvet Underground. We use lots of effect pedals to, you know, drown out the sound a bit, haha.
Chase: Effects really help everything we’ve done. Not relying on them, but we’ve found a way to make the songs sound exactly like we want them to soung using pedals. Tim’s guitar tone is insane, and he won’t tell us how he does it.
Tim: We didn’t get to use our fog machine tonight, though. We usually have a lot of fog and lights on stage. Bands don’t really use those anymore.
Chase: We’ve embraced the performance aspect of the live show. Nowadays, you see a lot of bands that just plug in and play, but we want to support the eyes and the ears.

MP3: Was it difficult to translate the songs as written for the live performance?
Tim: I was originally worried about how it was going to come across, I thought we weren’t going to be able to do a lot tunes, but things came out exceptionally better than I thought. They’ve transformed from studio to live, they’ve got distinct natures.
Chase: We’ve been getting peeople to the shows through the recordings, then they come see us live and it’s a whole new thing. Each show we introduce new songs, try out new stuff, so people don’t see the same set over and over again. That gets stale.

MP3: What do you hope to get out of your time at CMJ this year?
Tim: Exposure.

MP3: Do you have more shows this week?
Tim: We have one at Bruar Falls, and a second in the works. We had a third but that one got pulled yesterday.
Chase: I didn’t know about that.
Tim: Hah, sorry – last night was last night.

MP3: Are there any bands performing this week at CMJ you’re looking to check out?
Tim: I’d like to see Zola Jesus, Dum Dum Girls. Dum Dum Girls are from San Diego, so I try and see them whenever I can.

MP3: I think Dum Dum Girls are playing an acoustic set tomorrow.
Tim: Yea, I heard about that. I’m not sure I’m going to go, though – I’m not to into the ‘acoustic’ thing.
Chase: When we joined the band, Tim said: “We’re not doing any acoustic sessions.”
Tim: Yea, I refuse to.

MP3: Why is that?
Tim: I just don’t think the music will come across the right way.
Chase: It’s not our sound.
Tim: A lot of the songs were initially written on acoustic guitar, but that’s just out of necessity because I couldn’t make too much noise at the time.

MP3: Do you have any releases for people to check out?
Tim: We’re with this small, DIY label based out of California called Volar. We’ve put out a 7? with them, but it’s pretty loose. We are looking out to release some more stuff soon. We have songs ready to go, probably a few more 7?s in the future before a full length comes out.

MP3: What are your plans post-CMJ?
Tim: We doing a short tour of the West Coast. We’re opening for Lana Del Ray at a KCRW show called “School Night.” I don’t know how we got lumped in with Lana Del Ray, it’s a total polar opposite. I want to come out on stage with facepaint and wings on our back or something, just mess with people.
Chase: We’ll need like, three more fog machines. - Last.FM

Probably the biggest gig for local lads Tropical Popsicle in their brief history, supporting The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Belly Up for a local radio station (94.9 FM) sponsored show. Despite its faults (which I freely accept could easily just be my biases!), The Belly Up is that next stage up in size from say, The Casbah or the Soda Bar for example and although it wasn't quite full there was a decent crowd for a Monday by the end of the night. It's a bit of a drive from the hipster-heavy areas of San Diego, but the boys did not have to worry, they had plenty of friends follow them up the road and get there in time to see them despite the 9 pm kick-off. Much the same set as the last time I caught them but with the addition of one fresh tune that you can hear a studio version of here and this is a good representation of how it sounded out front. Incidentally, the sound was actually much fuller for our lads than it was for the headliners, who's lead guitar was woefully under-represented in the mix.
I think the indie world is looking for something new to latch onto at the moment after a couple of years of lo-fi and/or garage groups. I was starting to sense a movement towards pop hook-laden female-fronted post-punk bands (Bleached, Wax Idols etc.) in the offing, but it could just be that Trop Pop's melodic 80's-goth tinged gloom is just what we are looking for in these dark times. There are other groups out there that are partial to this approach too so perhaps they can form a gang with Weekend and The Soft Moon amongst others. The lyrics are not going to cheer you up much but the songs are highly danceable and maybe that's what the 99% are really after. In any event, after only a few months out there, Trop Pop have a really solid set to share with the world and if they perform it this well at the CMJ outing in New York in a couple of weeks, they are going to get plenty of interest. Just make sure you have more merch with you guys!
- Little More Than A Big Crashing Beat

Options will be endless all week long, but not on Wednesday night. INDIGENOUS Promotions, Origami Vinyl, The Echo/Spaceland, and Dirty Laundry TV to bring you Lost Angeles at the Cake Shop.
8:30 Tropical Popsicle
9:15 Races
10:00 Fidlar
10:45 Guards
11:30 Bleached
12:15 Weekend
1:00 Audacity
Lost Angeles has one of the strongest line ups of CMJ 2011 with a diverse batch of bands that range from surf rock to synth-saturated psychedelica to brutishly fun punk. If you want to experience the most promising acts LA has to offer indie rock, get off your blogroll and experience these bands live. Promise us you’ll check them out, and we’ll give you four free mp3s in return. - MP3.com

"Amongst the angels playing tonight: Tropical Popsicle make hazy, tripped-out indiepop that might take you as high as the 13 Floor if your elevator goes that way. Trop Pop have toured with Pains of Being Pure at Heart and, while the sound ain't exactly new, the songs are pretty catchy. You can download a track off their latest EP at the top of this post. Please, however, don't go to this show yelling for them to play "Everybody Dry Fuck on the Dance Floor" -- that's a different Tropical Popsicle." - Brooklyn Vegan

"Imagine Bauhaus on the beach, with gothic synth lines accompanying lo-fi surf-rock, and you’ve got an idea of the sound Tropical Popsicle’s going for, and occasionally achieve. Lead singer Timothy Hines’ whispery, emotionless echo vocals steered the band’s minimalist gloom, and although some of the songs blended together, one of their self-proclaimed new ones caught me completely off-guard. It slowly creeped, as if the song had never seen the warm San Diego sun, from where the band hails, and the lyrics were right out of a Birthday Party track: “In the universe of dark shadows, there’s no hope for you now.” The coldest song was the one that received the warmest response from Tropical Popsicle’s set, and they might be wise to continue down the occult angle for their next EP." - The L Magazine

"What did stand out for me in this category was San Diego's garage-psych outfit Tropical Popsicle. Instead of falling flat, the deadpan vocal delivery of Tim Hines pulled me in and kept my attention, making me forget about my plans to leave midset." - Brooklyn Vegan

I’ve been doing this for too long.

It was confirmed the moment when I posed myself the question “hey – are Tropical Popsicle Trop Pop?”, as if tenuously connecting a band’s name with a micro-niche music genre I’d only really encountered once before is enough to make a question valid.

They’re not Trop Pop, by the way – this sub-sub-meta-genre is Cold Wave, of course – but let’s not get bogged down in the ludicrous world of pigeon-holing, and prise open a song like The Beach With No Footprints, where tinny zing!s of noise punctuate the thoughts of a lunatic preacher.



Sounding like a lost 80's synth power-pop hit slowed to 70% of its original speed, The Beach With No Footprints has the important knack of supplying just enough sound to keep the listener interested and from flipping onwards to another song.

We’re rewarded with a song that is almost motorik in its relentlessness and insidiously burrows into your mind – and then leaves you with nothing at all. A magic trick to enjoy. - A New Band A Day!

Tropical Popsicle
Hometown: San Diego, California
Album: The Beach With No Footprints 7? (Buy)
Label: Volar Records - Rollo & Grady

October 4, goth-y surf rockers Tropical Popsicle will release seven-inch “The Beach with No Footprints,” on local Volar Records. Bandleader Tim Hines (the Stereotypes, Lights On) recently filled out the group with Kyle Whatley (guitar, organ, vocals), Chase Elliott (bass, synths), and Ryan Hand (drums), who’ll be celebrating his birthday when the band plays the Belly Up on October 10.
- San Diego Reader

In our own special way, we recreate the cliché of the lone resuscitant marooned in a post-apocalyptic scenario– the current affairs perceptual chasm explained by a Purification Festival where we retreat to the innermost vaults of our manor and listen to hermetic discographies for months, we flip tarot cards too, disconnected from the outside, our posts scheduled in advance or drafted by a Lovecraft-conditioned coterie of winged monkeys with a penchant for ‘something wave’ premieres (and not used to replying to e-mails, that explains it all).

Everything is gone when we return, wide-eyed and cleansed. Our domotic AI recounts a heavy-duty redux of the financial crisis, traders doing trampoline jump from the top of their golden cathedrals, riots and mob violence, chaos, eventually Plan Omega is implemented. The government releases a harsh cocktail of tranquiliser drugs into the water supply to cool things down.

However, there is an unexpected chemical reaction. Vampirisation, mutation and amnesia. The knowledge base of the human race is wiped out. New gods step into the breach. Emergent tribes configured around random mythologies, brands and memes. Cricket furies, groupon zombies, twitter bees, Kiwanis bastards, frappucino hurling Apple fanboys and k-pop elfs, they fight for territory and devour each other, they can smell us. We gaze from our ramparts and count the ammunitions. We see their fires burning in the hills, we gasp at their rituals, we blow their heads off, two at a time if Dan’s shooting.

The worse ones in our neighbourhood we call the bowlers because of their haircuts. They are worshippers at the altar of the original harbingers of the altered state, riders of the satanic storm and wearers of the Mysterian tunic. Their life is a creepy Ghost Box stolen docudrama, their game is chicken. They play it when night is at its darkest, burning asphalt around our booby trapped perimeter, shouting gibberish at each other, over the sixties charivari that blasts from their speakers, they illuminate the night with their cyan lightning bolts and hypnotic holograms.

We know they are just playing, they are only naughty kids. Naughty kids with a wild attitude backed up by psychic guns. They are ineffable romantics, and soon they’ll be coming to get us, culminate their sickly courtship with terminal defilement. There’s little we can do about it. We will burn in their inevitable bonfire of explosive plastic, transfixed by the mighty vibration of their unimpeachable drone, they will feast on our charred bodies, and our flesh will dissolve in their lysergic bloodstream. Which is where we were headed from the beginning anyway, it could be worse.



Tropical Popsicle -Always Awake in Shadows

Where Tropical Popsicle display, over a velvet sheet, an array of souvenirs from certain legendary spots along 20jazzfunkgreats favourite psychedelic route – most specifically, mementoes from the Velvet Underground’s funeral of dissonance (also attended by Spacemen 3 and Suicide), skulls off the garage gothick boneyard (pumping up the bass for that extra-syrupy feel), and lumps of satanic coal such as those that power Wooden Shjips stoned locomotive. Name your price!

Their ‘Beach with no Footprints’ 7 is being released by Volar Records (get it there!) - 20 Jazz Funk Greats

Yes it’s Friday. Yes you have every right to be excited about it. I don’t have much to say, except that I hope you have a nice, relaxing couple of days off. If you’re working this weekend, try not to work too hard. Pick Your Poison is good for what ails you, in spite of the name. I can give some honorable mentions in this set from Cuckoo Chaos, High Places, The JUan Maclean, Mood Rings, Radio Moscow and We Were Lovers. In terms of remixes, Superhumanoids remixing Fool’s Gold is remarkably good, as is Portugal. The Man’s remix of Junip. If you like the lighter singer-songwriter fare, there’s a new song from Rachel Yamagata in the Soundcloud section. That, along with Efterklang’s remix of Trentemøller’s cut “Tide” are both worth streaming.

Cuckoo Chaos – Jamb Song

Fabian – Heatwave

Fool’s Gold – Wild Window (Superhumanoids Remix)

Glenn Jones – Of Its Own Kind

High Places – Year Off

John Heart Jackie – You’ve Been On My Mind

The Juan Maclean – Everybody Get Close

Junip – Without You (Portugal. The Man Remix)

Keith Masters – New Ghost City

Mandela – Flight

Marco Panella – The Aquifer

Mood Rings – Exorcised Painting

Not the 1s – Silverstein Status

Pieta Brown – I’m Gone

Radio Moscow – Little Eyes

Simon Spire – Liberate Your Love

Toy Bombs – Prairie Eye

Tropical Popsicle – The Beach With No Footprints
Tropical Popsicle – The Age of Attraction

We Were Lovers – We’ve Got It

Zun Zun Egui – Fandango Fresh - Faronheit

Tropical Popsicle "The Age of Attraction EP" (Volar Records)
This three-song release from San Diego “beach goth” three-piece Tropical Popsicle sounds like a long-lost recording from the Flying Nun catalogue. The pulsing, synth-infused, psychedelic, lo-fi shoegaze recalls the distinct, haunted minimalism of obscure early ’80s New Zealand bands. Sonic excellence. Cool album art / band imagery too. (JCC) - Alibi.com

For “5 After 5? we bring you the five best tracks released into the world today via the World Wide Web. Click on ‘em and enjoy!

James Blake “Fear To Fear”

How To Dress Well “Here in Heaven 3? (Elite Gymnastics Cover)

Gorilla vs. Bear “September 2011 Mix”

Ryan Adams “Flip Flops”

Tropical Popsicle “Always Awake In Shadows” - Much Music Canada

Featured free download of Tropical Popsicle - The Age Of Attraction - Volar on Urban Outfitters website. - Urban Outfitters Blog

We are kicking off September with a mix of fresh and eclectic indie music. This batch of songs range from fuzzy guitar rock, to light summery dance pop, to spaced-out instrumental music.

Tracklist:

1. "The Age of Attraction" -- Tropical Popsicle, Tropical Popsicle EP

... - KQED & Noise Pop SF

10:30 p.m. at Bar Pink: If the guys in Joy Division practiced paganism and smoked more weed, they might’ve sounded like Tropical Popsicle. Headed by Tim Hines of Lights On and The Stereotypes, the new band offers up hypnotic post-punk with gloomy synths, pulsating rhythms and a mystical vibe. - San Diego Citybeat

Band: Tropical Popsicle // Ep: Tropical Popside // Year: 2011 // Bandcamp // Facebook

Tatatatata. Ed una chitarra suonata con pigrizia. A primo acchito potrebbero sembrare la cover band dei Velvet Underground, invece si distinguono benissimo da chi di certo li ha ispirati. I Tropical Popsicle hanno il piglio dei moderni applicato alla nostalgia dei sixities. E meravigliano. Come il libeccio le sere d’estate, come gli acquazzoni quando sei steso al sole. E non ti dispiacciono affatto, ma ti corroborano.

Tatatatata with a lazy guitar can induce you to think that this band is a cover band of Velvet Underground, but it’s wrong. The style of Tropical Popsicle is defined, modern with nostalgia for sixities. They wonder like a storm while you stay under the sun. But you like it beacause are fresh and unexpected. - Just Can't Get Enough

Tropical Popsicle hail from San Diego, although you might not guess if from their chilly fuzz-soaked jams. Though if you really pay attention you’ll notice just enough psychedelic-hued sunshine buried under the reverb-laced melodies to prove it. The opening single “Age of Attraction” glistens like the smooth surface of a stone peaking through a thin layer of sea algae. Meanwhile, “The View From the Dihedral Wall” has a ringing pastoral drone paired with a clip clop rhythm and “The Tethers” is a blinking psychedelic groove. - Turntable Kitchen

Despite arriving with one of the worst names among indie rock in recent memory, San Diego’s Tropical Popsicle still manages to set the controls to stun on their unassuming, yet potent, debut single. The burgeoning Volar label has proven to be the Captured Tracks of the West when it comes to issuing semi-unknown bands mining a similar pseudo-Mancunian minimalism, and Trop Pop (as I prefer to call the band) tends to obscure bubbling melodies under a shroud of summer bummer atmospherics. This is the solo work of Tim Hines, but Hines has recently acquired a trio to accompany him who will surely aid in creating a mood onstage whereby the oxygen is sucked from the room and the crowd mopes accordingly while hanging on every one of Hines’ occultist fantasies. In “Beach With No Footprints,” Hines speaks of the “beast who takes each breath,” while his shaman moan on “Always Awake in Shadows” claims, “Your will is my command.” Each breathy line becomes more convincing than the last. Both tracks balance syrup-thick organs and surfer rhythms brought to a slow-motion pant, an aesthetic that shows Trop Pop knows the existential wonder in their oceanic surroundings, but prefers to see it as existential dread on the dark side of the coastline. Not unlike the moody surprises from Clinic when that band first appeared or the shambling slouch psychedelics of the Crystal Stilts, Trop Pop is unique in sounding completely foreign even among the bevy of bands creating similar waves. What’s not unique is their reliance on the beach for literal inspiration. That’s a trend which should be going the way of the off-shore oil rig. - The Agit Reader

I guess you've figured it out by now — I'm very much into the 60s. It's where my love is and vinyl record collection is far bigger in the vintage section than the newer stuff, and whenever there's the least bit of 60s reference in a song it's music in my ear right away (literally).

Today's single is from Tropical Popsicle and while the single and release is called The Beach With No Footprints you should direct your attention from the rather bland top side over to the B-side, where you'll find the hypnotic Always Awake In Shadows. If the song was nine minutes longer and would just expand into the jam it sounds like the start of, it would fit perfectly in the 1967 movie Tonite Let's All Make Love in London. - Vinyl Ticks

Tropical Popsicle is the stage name for San Diego’s Tim Hines, who has been busy adding other musicians recently to round out the group’s stage sound. I don’t even know how the journey started, or its midpoint, but the other night I ended up at their bandcamp page, where I heard the track “The Beach With No Footprints”, and fell completely, totally in love with it.


It’s a crazy and spinny, and yet melodramatic tune that combines a little bit of psychedelia with surf rock. It’s already been featured on I Guess I’m Floating, where Connor McGlynn called it a “perfect mid-summer jam”, one that makes you want to “jump in the water ass naked at 4AM”. Tim used that quote on his Sonicbids page. Good call, Tim. Connor’s right, though – besides, who hasn’t jumped into a lake naked during the middle of an all-out booze fest. But that’s a story for another time. Check out the track below; TP has a total of five tracks available on bandcamp.


For those wishing to purchase the 7?, surf on over to Volar Records (they’ve got plenty of other great stuff too). - New Music Michael

In the annals of independent music, the 2010’s may come to be known as the decade of the bedroom artist. It seems anybody with a four-track and three chords has an equal opportunity to set the blogosphere on fire with a worthy tune, though few have chosen a better nom de plume than Timothy Hines has for his project Tropical Popsicle.

On ‘The Age of Attraction’, Tropical Popsicle takes the black turtleneck and dark sunglasses vibe of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Waiting for My Man’ and sprinkles sunshine, sand, and seawater on it to create a sound the artist describes as “beach goth”. It works well, updating the fuzzy, reverbed-out California slacker sound that’s so popular these days with a darker, ominous edge, making ‘The Age of Attraction’ stand out as an alternative to the typical summer bubblegum.

Tropical Popsicle has a 7” out on San Diego’s Volar Records and some East Coast tour dates planned for this August.

Joseph Avary - MP3 Hugger

When he isn’t playing in his bands Lights On and The Stereotypes, songwriter Tim Hines stays up late, gets really stoned and writes stripped-down pop songs for a new project called Tropical Popsicle. Hines’ casual solo effort is expanding into a full band, with Ryan Hand (Sunday Times) on drums, Kyle Whatley (The KABBs) on guitar / organ and Chase Elliott (The KABBs, Trap Gold) on bass. “It’s really simplistic, and I kind of want it to be sort of archaic. I kind of want it to be really loose and not technical,” Hines says, describing the music as “caveman-like.” They’ll celebrate the release of their debut 7-inch, which comes out on Volar Records, with Ale Mania and Lenguas Largas at Soda Bar on Thursday, June 2. - San Diego Citybeat

Mixing hazy 1960s psych-pop with 1980s minimal wave, Tropical Popsicle is fronted by singer-guitarist-keyboardist Timothy Hines (Lights On), known around town for successfully placing music on various TV shows in 2009 and 2010. “The music supervisors in Hollywood run a small incestuous circle and take a liking to upcoming bands that are cheap for hire, but, it pays well. It just adds another log to the fire of trying to build a buzz in this wacky music market.”

Their debut concert happened at Soda Bar on June 2, 2011, where they launched their Beach With No Footprints 7-inch, on Volar Records. - San Diego Reader

Weather’s grey and rainy in Switzerland since a couple of days. So we definitely need more songs that make us feel like lying on the beach with our friends and no worries. Songs that let us do all the crazy things that make a summer unforgettable! Songs like «The Age Of Attraction» by Timothy Hines from San Diego and his project Tropical Popsicle. - Guerolito Music

Wednesday, July 6

PLAN A: Dinosaur Feathers, Tropical Popsicle, Bruin @ Soda Bar. Dinosaur Feathers’ intricate, carefree indie-pop will no doubt put a smile on your face, but it’s Tropical Popsicle you really want to see. A new band featuring Tim Hines of Lights On, they play gloomy, hypnotic post-punk with a mystical vibe. They had a smoke machine going the last time I saw them; all they need now are druid robes. - San Diego Citybeat

In what’s surely a riff copied from something epic of the past (I can’t quite put my finger on it), Tropical Popsicle burst forth with one of those perfect mid-summer jams… the ones that blast out your car windows at the lake, that make you do stupid shit like throw bologna on the hood of a droptop beamer or jump in the water ass naked at 4AM. Youthful exuberance infects the mind with blind optimism and a sense of indestructibility that makes every summer unforgettable, and this is the music that soundtracks its reign.


- I Guess I'm Floating