JOLLY NEW SONGS

Nothing hurts harder than a surprise ending, and the title track of this album has a real face-slap of one. One minute you're in bliss, carried away in a crescendo of spine-tingling post-rock guitars and soft, wordless "oohs", the next you're through - the song's out the door, down the street, pulling away from the curb and into a new life. That the overall tone of Jolly New Songs is so anthemic and - for Trupa Trupa - uncharacteristically triumphant, only makes having the rug pulled out from un.