The video for the song “Sleeptalker” by Montreal quartet TOPS gets you thinking about the creative process. Looking like it was shot with the same clunky camera used to tape you drinking from a hose at age four circa 1993, the video shows the band inside of a rehearsal space goofing around, practicing, recording, and sometimes just talking. This fuzzy visual representation, or really the absence of HD’d-to-death-1080p-chest-hair-blowing-in-the-wind shots, suits the band’s minimally produced arrangements. On “Sleeptalker,” dry guitar leads, light drumming, and simple harmonies manifest as concise crystalline structures bursting with feelings of closeness and vulnerability.
“Sleeptalker” is off TOPS’ record Picture You Staring, out now on Arbutus Records.
TOPS tour dates
August
08 Kingston, ON at The Wolfe Island Music Festival
October
15 San Fransisco, CA at Academy Of Sciences
26 Minneapolis, MN at 7th Street Entry*
27 Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall*
29 Detroit, MI at Marble Bar*
30 Toronto, ON at The Horseshoe*
31 Montreal, QC at Theatre Fairmont*
November
01 Brooklyn, NY at Music Hall of Williamsburg*
02 Washington, DC at U Street Music Hall*
05 at Dallas, TX at Dada*
06 Austin, TX at Auditorium Shores (Fun Fun Fun Fest)*
09 Phoenix, AZ at Valley Bar*
10 Los Angeles, CA at The Roxy*
11 San Diego, CA at The Hideout*
12 San Fransisco, CA at The Independent*
13 Portland, OR at Doug Fir*
14 Seattle, WA at Barboza*
21 Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore*
* – with support from Molly Nilsson
