Sled Island and Servus present: Tropical Fuck Storm, Motherhood, Family Man and more

Tropical Fuck Storm

“Supergroup” only begins to describe Tropical Fuck Storm, a furious typhoon of hooky art punk and clangy noise rock straight out of Melbourne. Founded by Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from The Drones and rounded out by Lauren Hammel of High Tension and Erica Dunn from Mod Con, TFS made a loud statement with 2018 debut album A Laughing Death in Meatspace: the techpocalypse is upon us, and they’re going to make it a party fuelled by wit and odd time signatures.

Following a flurry of tour dates with Modest Mouse and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, TFS unveiled their second album to the world. Braindrops, released in 2019 through Joyful Noise Recordings, delivered mangled art-rock jams and swampy grooves that were described by Iggy Pop as “a good fuck” and earned a Austrailian Music Prize nomination. This was followed by Deep States, a hyper-experimental stew of psych rock dirges that explored social media fuckery, science fiction mind fuzz, and conspiratorial compassion fade. Deep States was listed among NME’s 25 best Australian Albums of 2021 and received the Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album award at the 2021 ARIA Awards.

Following the skronky Satanic Slumber Party split EP with King Gizz in 2022 and the highly acclaimed Moonburn EP later that year, the storm briefly cooled its fiery touring schedule in 2023. But the band is back in the saddle (and the studio), ripping across live dates on the path to Sled Island. Looking for an entry point? Their latest release, the live album Inflatable Graveyard, was recorded at the peak of their ‘22 “Fuck the Rain Away” tour and showcases over an hour of scorching wobble rock that blisters the skin and rings out the ears; a perfect taste of the psych-rock insanity in store for Calgary.

Motherhood

Uplifting and unpredictable, Motherhood has been some of eastern Canada’s finest purveyors of thoughtful art rock for over a decade. After relentlessly touring the world, they’ve brought it altogether for their weirdest, hookiest release yet: Thunder Perfect Mind, a sci-fi concept album that squares the circle between Gnostic myths, Morricone guitars, Pixies-style wails, and hardcore punk rippers. 

Family Man

Relentless and brutal are the two words that define Family Man’s evolving post-punk sound. Their debut EP, What’s New, was inspired by the turmoil of one of the members’ breakups, while the ICONOCLAST LP addresses deeper issues such as sexuality, religion, trauma, and death. Feedback addicts rejoice for these noisy punks.

Eye of Newt

This self-proclaimed “overthought” art rock project of Calgary multi-instrumentalist Nate Waters relies on shameless pop songcraft butting up against insistently obtuse compositional quirks. Disjointed jazz nerd guitar lines and caterwauling electronics weave their way around their first EP, Stay In Your Lane, which is advice Mr. Waters can’t seem to take himself. Who knew that questioning everything could be so catchy?

Truck Violence

Brazenly smashing hardcore punk and folk together, Truck Violence are a prairies-to-Quebec transplant with a deadly edge. Also informed by punk, shoegaze and sludge, their ‘24 debut LP Violence is a shifting kaleidoscope of heaviness, anchored in small town reminiscence. If you got sweaty at last year’s Show Me the Body show, you’re gonna love Truck Violence.

Cheer

Spanning the cosmos of psychedelia and krautrock, Cheer is Calgary’s shambling Fuzzenstein’s monster. Featuring members of BRIDGELAND, Sub / / Cell, and Brain Bent, their eclectic touch is felt throughout the scene — but it’s best heard on their epic ‘24 release Pure Mass Detection. If the relentless riffs don’t grab you, the soaring three-part vocals will.

Sunglaciers

Calgary quartet Sunglaciers deliver highly relatable rock music laced with post-punk, new wave and garage elements that is intricately constructed, yet highly danceable. The group made waves in 2024 with a 30-date tour across North America to support their third full-length record Regular Nature — a sprawling epic showcasing their myriad of styles.

 

About Sled Island:

Sled Island is an annual five-day independent music and arts festival in Calgary, Alberta that brings together a community of music, comedy and art with nearly 30,000 attendees in multiple venues across the city. For more information, visit SledIsland.com.

Upon entering a festival venue, the passholder agrees to being photographed, filmed or recorded in that venue, and agrees to the publication, reproduction, distribution and broadcast of all photographs, video or other recordings of the passholder's voice or likeness without further notice or compensation in any publicity, advertisement or other publication carried-out by, or on behalf of, Sled Island and in perpetuity in any manner and media whatsoever, including print, broadcast or internet.

Everyone has the right to feel safe and included at Sled Island. All festival attendees must abide by Sled Island's safer spaces and inclusion policy and agree to the code of conduct, which can be found at SledIsland.com/SaferSpaces.

Sled Island acknowledges Calgary as the traditional territory of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Ĩyãħé Nakoda First Nations, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney First Nations. Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6).