Keyboard Confessional

Philippe Mineau’s debut details the fraught balancing act of being a parent, a partner, and a whole person. The Guilt Trippers is a story of white, middle-class malaise — albeit with traditional gender roles reversed and some rock ’n’ roll thrown in for good measure. The plot is simple enough. A couple in their late thirties, Moe and Rachel Tremblay, find their relationship tested when they move from Oshawa, Ontario, to Montreal for Rachel’s legal career. The change leaves Moe as the primary caregiver for their two infant sons. “This is what progress looks like,” they explain to their friends. Shockingly, Moe has some misgivings about being saddled solely with the dual roles of “Daddy” and husband. Before their “progressive” new chapter has even begun in earnest, Moe finds himself wanting something “more” from life. “More” is almost immediately provided in the form of an opportunity to join a band called Guilt Trip, led by an old college buddy.

Told in the...