Slowcore bands like Ida are the first things conjured up by the minimalist arrangement and delicate guitar line, making ‘Love Triangle’ seem to lack the jerky, kinetic side that NME’s Alex Miller found on their earlier singles, but eventually three minutes in I had a told-you-so moment when some guitar chord jabs came in and the patience paid off. Suddenly all the other parts kick in and Popup’s pop ambitions are finally realised with some squeaky guitars and more girl-boy harmonies, and the vocalist’s previous sandpapery voice climbs into a yearning shout making for a seriously intense final chorus that begs you to sing along before dying down to its previous soft guitar line.
‘Love Triangle’ definitely shows some potential with its clever lyrics about betrayal between two conjoined twins, and the vocals with the strong Glaswegian accent were brilliant, but the build-up, or lack thereof in the first three minutes, could have been cut a little shorter as the track was growing a little too sombre. Still, Popup have once again proved that indie can do pop better than mainstream any time.
Ollie Khakwani
