Boats – A Fairway Full of Miners

On third album A Fairway Full of Miners, Winnipeg’s Boats convey an array of unruly but endearing quirks that are liable to be manna to some, anathema to others. Their hyperactive brand of indie-pop recalls the likes of Architecture in Helsinki, with lyrics that straddle strange poetry and jolly nonsense (“o mighty cufflink pincher, o frothy eater of sandwiches!”), and a playful songwriting style that conjoins carnivalesque abandon (O Telescope’s hollering noisiness) with extra-sugared electro-pop (We Got Tables and Chairs’ glockenspiel/guitar solos blend).

Mat Klachefsky’s high-pitched nasal yelp needs acclimatising to (Getting Worst.Jpeg’s shrill assault especially so) and there are moments where the smorgasbord of ideas starts to sound less like inspired eccentricity and more like a band in search of a rudder. But when it works, it really works, with Animated GIFS a squelchy twee-epic and Advice on Bioluminescent Bears undoubtedly the year’s finest song about a captive colour-changing grizzly. [Chris Buckle]