Music For Neighbours by The Trypes (Album)

Associates of the ‘paisley underground’ scene, The Trypes layer psychedelia over jangling guitars and twee synth lines

I wasn’t there when The Breakfast Club crept out from cinema curtains across the globe and gave lonely youths a mirror in which they could find themselves reflected. Hell I wasn’t even alive. Likewise, I wasn’t there when The Trypes and other achingly gorgeous ’80s guitar pop collectives were soundtracking weekends spent with backs arched against bedroom walls and legs reclined. But the sentiment of wistful teenage loneliness carries across generations and resonates with anyone who’s spent their youth with chin rested forlornly in their hand.

Associates of the ‘paisley underground’ scene that featured bands such as Mazzy Star, The Trypes included members of The Feelies and played an updated version of the wistful psychedelia that marked The Beatles’ classic album Revolver. Music For Neighbours brings together some of the band’s finest moments with a few unreleased gems. It layers psychedelia over jangling guitars and twee synth lines, invoking a sense of waking up in a dream and finding that you are now creating it yourself, painting ebullient pictures in your mind.

What’s most seductive about it, though, is the bittersweet songwriting upon which the rest of their musical charm is built. It’s as if they sought to hide their pop brilliance away, by creating a dreamy distance between themselves and the listener, but failed heroically. Standout tracks include brilliant opener From The Morning Glories, the Shins-esque The Undertow and the spacey Friends, but the whole album is filled with gems.

It’s odd, but this music cements perfectly a moment in time, as if it knew that it would forever soundtrack wistful teenage loneliness. If you thought My Bloody Valentine was just a little too awash with distortion and The Shop Assistants were not quite psychedelic enough for your tastes, this is the album for you.

Out now on Acute.

Damien Girling

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