Only recently did I realize that the bongos are an entirely underutilized instrument. You can’t miss something you never had, and until I heard “Real Life” by Tanlines, it would never have occurred to me that bongos are the perfect instrument to infuse a song with a tropical beat.
It would also have never occurred to me that my music lacked a tropical beat. So I say kudos to Brooklyn-based experimental indie-pop duo Tanlines for discovering the unlikely dream team of bongos and synthesizers and using them as a backdrop for their minimalist, entirely inscrutable lyrics, which somehow meld mind-blowingly well with their tropical electronica-esque sound. I would never have thought of it myself, but I seriously cannot get enough of it.