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. [Chris Buckle]