THE WINKS
Birthday Party
Ache
· Easily the most focused and accomplished effort to date from these orchestral experimental revellers.
With a cello, mandolin, tap dance percussion and the glitchy electronics of label owner Andy Dixon, The Winks’s newest full-length sounds distinct on paper – and also on wax. The Montreal-by-way-of-Vancouver act have always had an interesting take on pop music, but this album’s cute boy-girl dynamics, creative free-form lyrics and captivating instrumentation showcase how they’ve suddenly and satisfyingly perfected their craft.
"Slumber Party Let’s Go" starts with a rising string-filled build, as Tyr Jami and her childlike voice pop in through the door. The baritone grown-up tenor of Todd Macdonald balances this out before the song reaches its apex and the bandmates bounce back and forth off each other – "how, how to host a party here now?"
This strange chemistry continues through songs like the stripped down "Correct" (backed by strings, sax and Jami’s clicking shoes), "Woolongong" (the best example of organics interacting with electronics) and album highlight "Snakes (Revisited)," where pizzicato is possessed by serpentine blurts.
The agitated "Guitar Swing" returns to the theme of revelry, as Macdonald increases in intensity, obsessing over the fact that "the best birthday party that I ever had/ still needed to sleep again." Throw on this 11-song nocturne in green, red and yellow and the bizzaro-world kegger will keep going all night.
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