Tropidelic

Tree City Exodus

Self Released

(Tropidelic MySpace)

Not really a reggae rock act, but like most reggae rock bands what is most appealing about Tropidelic is its ability to successfully crossover many musical styles. Even though this is only a six track EP (not including secret bonus track), Tree City Exodus still somehow manages to cover funk, hip hop, rock, and dub.

The glue that holds all this diversity together is the energy and fun this five-piece from Ohio creates, like on the crazy disco of Aquafire. The bubbling bass from Guzba keeps this dance-floor destined gem pulsing. Then at the other end of the spectrum, South Water Dub is a smooth reggae groove with spacey but effective wanderings.

From the Intro to the closing Constant Light Tunnel, all the songs blend seamlessly into another, yet each song at its core is completely unique from the next. This accomplishment is not an easy task and will hopefully be admired by most, but I am sure will also mainly confuse.

With so many musical styles represented it would be easy to get lost in replicating your influences, but full credit must go to Tropidelic for creating an end result that is truly an original sound. For an EP, this curiously took me a little longer to get my ahead around, however it more than proved persisting with - in order to fully appreciate a unique talent.

Reviewed by Pilipo

You can purchase Tree City Exodus online at the band's MySpace page here