Monday, December 05, 2011

STN Albums Of The Year no.34: Trips And Falls - People Have To Be Told

Following the precision eclecticism of He Was Always Such A Quiet Boy was always going to be tricky, especially with a lineup change along the way, but if People Have To Be Told feels more streamlined it's not settled down much. Explosions of quasi-psychedelic guitar noise push against and generally get in the way of the tight woven melodies and folk influenced male/female crosshatched harmonies plus lyrics that can get very dark and dismissive indeed. Very carefully produced so everything gets its own stereo space, they use the form to play around with structure, subtle movements audibly straining at the leash while trying to present an outward face of normality and failing miserably.

[iTunes]
[direct from the label]
[Spotify]

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