Tops are a Montreal outfit and members of a record label that is no stranger to this blog, Arbutus! Tops also have members you will quickly recognize from Canadian pop sensations, Silly Kissers! Certain similarities in the synth and bass contributions immediately leap out of the jams. Tender Opposites has a hint of self aware swagger coupled with a skin-tight-acid-wash-jeans dance vibration (available in both fast & slow settings) through and through. Let’s zoom in on the gentle groove of ‘Double Vision’. This smooth gulp of soft rock puts your mind beneath a disco ball in a high school dance circa ’83 as the gentle female lead vocal, redolent of The Pastels, pull a lyrically lamentful love song in the vein of Stephen Merritt from out of thin air and wind it around the listener with a psychoanalytic acuity: “It’s my affliction / You can’t kiss a mirror! / . . . / Maybe I’m alone cause you and I are one and the same / Tonight two lovers are seeing double visions again.” Come see Tops as special guests of the Swig of Alberta Traveling Music Festival’s Edmonton stop on April 1st at Wunderbar. Tickets available from the Swig website.