[2] McFarlane, Merrilees and Miles, all left the band in late 1985: Higgie and Robertson were joined by Ken Doll on drums.
[2] In April 1986 the trio played their last Canberra gig, before relocating to Sydney; they co-headlined with fellow Canberra-formed band, the Plunderers, which had moved to Melbourne.
Falling Joys next three singles, "Nearly a Sin" (June 1988), "You're in a Mess" (December 1988) and "Tunnel Vision" (July 1989), were followed by their debut extended play, Ω (aka Omega), in November 1989.
[2] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noticed that "Higgie's breathy vocals on these records were just one of the band's trademark sounds.
"[5] Lynch opined that "they [are] successful at playing commercially appealing songs that aim at a broad audience... [and] have battled hard to achieve recognition with their bright well-crafted sound that has been branded 'pop with muscle'.
"[6] The group had "spent a fortnight in an improvised studio in the Blue Mountains in Wish List's pre-production period, where a handful of the album's songs were written between 'working out whose turn it was to chop the fire wood ... and Suzie cooking lentils.
Higgie reflected on the group's plans to tour the United States, "When we started out no one wanted to know us but now with us going overseas there are people involved that we don't even know.
"[6] Bevan Hannan of The Canberra Times reported that they toured North America for six weeks in early 1991 from "Vancouver and winding through Texas, Florida, Washington and New York" which "hasn't jaded the band.
Stuart Robertson unleashes guitar work which wasn't recorded on Wish List, while bassist Pat Hayes and drummer Pete Velzen have also been sharing some of the lead singing duties.
The charming tone which Higgie's writing skills address the topic of early love in 'Lock It' extracts true emotion from the band...
[11] McFarlane opined that Psychohum was "harder edged" and "yielded three singles: the noisy, guitar-driven pop of 'Black Bandages' (May) and 'Incinerator' (September), plus the ballad 'A Winter's Tale' (March 1993).
"[2] Charles Miranda, also of The Canberra Times, felt that "It is a lot different to the band's first album, Wish List, having a more live, 'earthy' sound and flavour – from energetic heavy rock to soft vocaled love songs.
The album sounds range from pure pop and hard guitar work to rhythm and grooves, producing song offerings which are diverse and yet maintain an indelibly fresh and strong thread throughout.
[16][17] According to Hayes, Velzen left due to family commitments, "Pete had twins, so it was a bit of an up-end when it happened because we had shows booked.
"[16] They played their last gig at Canberra's ANU Bar on 5 October 1995, Higgie declared it would be "one of the last Joys shows for a very very long time.
[20] In 1998, Suzie Higgie collaborated with keyboardist Conway Savage, a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, on an album, Soon Will be Tomorrow.
[20] On 26 February 2011 Falling Joys played their first live show in 15 years at the outdoor amphitheatre of the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.