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THE FAUVES
release their
latest magnum opus
“TROPICAL STRENGTH”
with all the fanfare
of a secret recipe
and a specialist attitude

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TROPICAL STRENGTH
Biographical Information

When only Tropical Strength will do, you need a trusted brand. For all your repellent needs, try The Fauves Tropical Strength, now in convenient 12-inch and CD sizes. Guaranteed to repel all music fans, critics and lecherous industry denizens.

Fluorocarbon-, microplastic- and hit-free, The Fauves Tropical Strength will not damage you or your family’s hearing so long as you play it at volumes under 5 dB.

The album was recorded a week in Indonesia in late 2023, strictly during office hours. Later we roamed the Sanur foreshore like shiftless itinerants seeking trouble or some nasi goreng. Next morning we were back at the studio as if nothing had ever happened, which perhaps it hadn’t. Very few Australians have ever been to Bali so we relished the sense of outpost exoticism and a culture completely untouched by Western influence. Here we could work in relative anonymity, far from the complete anonymity that tracks our every move at home. And when we needed some attention, we simply had to say, “We’re the dudes that did that Dog song”. Pretty sure that got us a few discounts, although we had trouble doing the currency conversion.

It’s generally considered that bands don’t reach their peak until their 13th album, which puts us in the sweet spot for success. Two hundred sales would be about par. Five hundred sounds a bit greedy. Over a thousand and we’re running a scam – change your passwords immediately.

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Tropical Strength has 11 tracks. They’ve got lyrics but, yeah nah, who’s got the attention span to read a lyric sheet?

Un-Australians: Have you ever failed the Pub Test? Have you ever had unpatriotic thoughts? Do you laugh every Invasion Day when people tip pink paint over the heads of Captain Cook statues? You may be an un-Australian. Hand in your passport and let the government send you to Nauru immediately.

Try Telling Someone Who Gives a Fuck: In 1928 they banned Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In 2024 you can put “Fuck” in a song title. This song is better than Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Well, the book at least. By all accounts gamekeeper Oliver Mellors was an excellent lover.

If You Love Me: There aren’t enough songs in the canon about hypochondriac middle-aged men. You could sing “She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah”. Or you could sing “If you love me, you might have to kill me”. We chose the latter.

Only Wait Forever: Of all the failed, broken, disbanded airlines in aviation history, TAA is our favourite. That’s not what the song’s about but W.B. Yeats didn’t tell you what his poems were about either.

It Kills Your Worst Enemies: The Fauves Tropical Strength – it kills your worst enemies.

Moscow Olympics: In 1980, we were on Year 8 school camp at Mill Valley Christian horse ranch. Well, it was just called Mill Valley Ranch but there was a church there and they made us go to it, and there was horse riding, but we’re scared of horses. The Moscow Olympics were on concurrently.

Guitar Village: We bought our first guitars at Guitar Village in Frankston. We had a song called Clive of India Curry Powder on our album Nervous Flashlights and were duly supplied with a complimentary box of powered curry products from the kindly proprietors of the worthy company. Hopefully we’ll get a box of guitars this time.

Always Look for the Bad in People: Generally a lot easier task than doing the opposite.

Bursting at the Seams: It could be about middle-aged spread or a batch of defective cricket balls. You do the exegesis.

The Show That Never Goes Away: 5 bonus points for the first person to create a meme with our photo and the caption “The band that never goes away”.

Let Me Stop You There: Sorry for your loss. It’s a bit grim.

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THE FAUVES
Biographical Information

The Fauves lengthy tenure (36 years) has resulted in them outlasting several generations of bands. Long have they posed like big game hunters on the African savannah with their feet astride the lifeless neck of the music industry. Many readers may require some biographical information on the Fauves.

After meeting at high school, the four friends became a regular fixture on the Melbourne live scene from 1988, issuing three self-funded EPs before signing with Polydor records in 1993.  It was the release of their third album, Future Spa, in 1996, that saw the Fauves reach another level of popularity. This was followed by years where they saw more of the country than Australia Post. During this period a film crew followed the band on its travels, and the resulting documentary Fifteen Minutes to Rock aired on national television in late 2000. 

“Released” from Polydor Records shortly afterwards, they settled into wilful obscurity, releasing six remarkable but unheralded albums on Shock Records, each less commercially successful than the last. They released their first double album Driveway Heart Attack by themselves in 2019. It can occasionally be found with the aid of a radio telescope. Their 13th album Tropical Strength is due for release on 1 November 2024.

The Fauves’ appeal is difficult to define.  Never fitting into any particular genre has afforded them a longevity rare in the music industry, while their extra-curricular talents have seen them involved in everything from hosting youth television programs to appearing on the popular TV quiz show Sale Of The Century.

The band been likened to a North Queensland cult. For those who have been indoctrinated, membership is a revelatory experience. Others tend to just walk past the large cyclone fence and peer through occasionally.

“Self-promotion is difficult for us. We don’t really inhabit the music industry. Our parents taught us to be friendly but not familiar”.

The Fauves are: T. Cleaver, A. Ian Cox, P. Daniel Leonard, A. Douglas Newey

DISCOGRAPHY

This Mood Has Passed EP – 1990; The Scissors Within EP – 1992; Tight White Ballhugger EP – 1992; Drive Through Charisma – 1993; The Young Need Discipline – 1994; Future Spa – 1996; Lazy Highways – 1998; Thousand Yard Stare – 2000; Footage Missing – 2002; The Fauves – 2004; Nervous Flashlights – 2006; Prefer Others (B-side compilation) – 2007; When Good Times Go Good – 2008; Japanese Engines – 2011; German Engines – 2012; Driveway Heart Attack – 2019; Tropical Strength – 2024.

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On TOUR with CUSTARD
and THE STRESS OF LEISURE
all the info HERE

SAT 9 NOV – sydney CROWBAR
FRI 15 NOV – hobart REPUBLIC CAFE
SAT 16 NOV – adelaide THE GOV
FRI 22 NOV – melbourne THE PRINCE
SAT 23 NOV – gippsland LIVE AT THE BUNDY
SUN 24 NOV – Castlemaine THEATRE ROYAL 
FRI 29 NOV – canberra THE BASO
SAT 30 NOV – Ulladulla THE MARLIN
FRI 6 DEC – perth MILK BAR
SAT 7 DEC – fremantle MOJOS
FRI 20 DEC – gold coast MIAMI MARKETTA
SAT 21 DEC – brisbane THE PRINCESS

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THE FAUVES Tropical Strength out NOV 1 on Valve via MGM
Preorder VINYL & CD HERE
DIGITAL HERE
BANDCAMP HERE

Track List

AUVB02400025 – Un-Australians
AUVB02400026 – Tell Someone Who Gives a Fuck
AUVB02400027 – If You Love Me
AUVB02400028 – Only Wait Forever
AUVB02400029 – It Kills Your Worst Enemies
AUVB02400030 – Moscow Olympics
AUVB02400031 – Guitar Village
AUVB02400032 – Always Look for the Bad in People
AUVB02400033 – Bursting at the Seams
AUVB02400034 – The Show That Never Goes Away
AUVB02400035 – Let Me Stop You There

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Follow THE FAUVES
Website – Instagram – Bandcamp

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AMNPLIFY – DB