Trips And Falls - He Was Such a Quiet Boy (****)
Trips and Falls are full of surprises. Prelude to a Shark Attack, for example, sounds nothing like the Jaws theme; instead, it’s a moving Ballboy-esque sob-serenade. Male and female voices take turns to acquiesce to the dreams of the other: he’s willing to run away with her; she promises to one day settle down. When their voices combine it’s stirring; when they start to simultaneously sing opposing plans, it’s heartbreaking. A song so smart in form and so devastatingly beautiful in content is rare, and alone would be enough to recommend the Montreal quartet. But it’s only a slither of this record’s wonders: from the dizzy spin of And In Real Life He Wears Corduroy Pants’ off-kilter melody to You Should Really Get Yours’ sinister threats, they excel. Their woozy experiments sound like a band that decided to play their instruments backwards and blindfolded – and discovered it worked.
Out Now
Josiah Wolf - Jet Lag (***)
Those who unfairly balked at Eskimo Snow’s perceived middle-age spread would do well to skip Why? drummer Josiah Wolf’s first solo effort. Why?’s softening was rewarding, proffering new textures as their sound settled and rested; Jet Lag, by comparison sounds like the same process taken several steps too far. As a refinement of the day-job, this goes beyond spit and polish; Wolf has weathered and eroded Why?’s ornate facets into undistinguished stone. The result is an inconsistent record that meanders anonymously. It doesn’t help that it’s unrelentingly miserable either, Josiah’s lyrics lacking his brother Yoni’s wit (though contemplating the nature of the musky funk conjured in The Apart Meant - “and my apartment smells like divorce” - might raise a smile in the giggle-prone). While there are moments that make its occasional company worthwhile - not least Ohioho’s mellifluousness - its patchiness destines it to be an Anticon footnote.
Out Now
Victoria and Jacob - With No Certainty (***)
Do you like Ellie Goulding and Owl City? Me neither, but enough do to make them two of 2010’s breakthrough acts. Those same people will likely elect Victoria & Jacob to join them, sharing as they do the former’s sensitivity and the latter’s soppy pop-nous. And, like the aforementioned, they are similarly open to charges of derivativeness – committee-made camels to Passion Pit and the Postal Service’s horses. The Passion Pit-influence is particularly un-ignorable, With No Certainty practically sampling Sleepyhead’s electric cries. That said, it’s very nice – like Sally Shapiro shorn of shyness – and consequentially merits further investigation.
Out 5th April
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