I must say that Fall behind came as a great surprise to me. The Shrubs of Houston have made it feel like you have found a rare jewel in a dusty record store–you know it at once but you are very much surprised.
It is something extraordinary that Miguel, Josh, and Sophie have done. Decades old, this song is older than it sounds, with the penalties of true art development, and you can feel that in each moment that is thought out. The brothers along with their bandmate Sophie have put their heart in this one and have made something that is not only good but a song that really touches you.
The singing is simply phenomenal–luminous and expressive with such an effect that seems both naked and confident. Those melodies go round the track? They are those that send a shiver down your back, and come at the opportune time when you need it the most. The central instruments narrate their own tale, with ringing chords and syncopated melodic leads that weave around each other to form this beautiful soundscape of texture that rises to near ecstatic ecstasy out of whisper-quiet contemplation to a truly song-moving catharsis.
The most appealing aspect to me is the gorgeous contradiction in the centre of the song. Those surf-rock influenced tunes, nods at The Ventures and Bambi Molesters tend to have something deeper beneath the surface. The poetical motifs go deeper into the shadow and establish a poignant conflict that simply makes the entire thing look sincere and inhabited as opposed to witty.
The Shrubs have recorded their song at their home studio, Flowers on the Wall, with discarded analogue and bouncing between reel-to-reel players and cassettes tapes; they have created something that has a sense of warmth and heart. The unstable retro sound of it is not affectation, it is the sound of musicians who believe in what they are playing.
This is soul infused Indie rock, created by individuals who will not give up on the vision at the cost of simple solutions. Fall Behind is not a good song, it is somehow important, as though it is reconnecting with something real in a world that is more and more synthetic. It has haunted me, and I think it will haunt you.
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