Paper Chase
(Kill Rock Stars)
Metaphor is the order of the day on the Paper Chase's fifth album. The subtitles of all 10 songs depict a different natural disaster which is connected to lyrics even if the song titles don't directly address them. Among the disasters, the band discusses the Forest Fire, the Comet, the Blizzard and the Flood, which in a questionable display of taste, comes in a track called "This Is a Rape (The Flood)." Paper Chase vocalist John Congleton clearly worked hard crafting this concept, penning a bold set of lyrics that evoke the pandemonium of the subject matter. "If Nobody Moves Nobody Will Get Hurt (The Extinction)" gets the album off to a tense start, with the doomed hope that the protagonist will "try to ignore that we're all aboard the Titanic" and "you're flying with Amelia Earhart." The disembodied voices and creaking door noise that pops up repeatedly during these six minutes adds to the tension.
Someday couldn't make its point without some bombast - or claustrophobia, depending on how you look at it - which makes it a challenge to listen to the album in one sitting. The old school phone-off-the-hook buzzes and EBS test patterns make their point as they weave throughout various tracks. But the dissonant piano lines, which are a throwback to Tubular Bells, get a little unsettling. Then there's Congleton himself, whose nasal articulation reaches saturation point by about the middle of the album. But the band still has the power to rock hard, so the final result feels like the classic trainwreck comparison: hard to take but hard to turn away from. The band plans to release Part 2 next year, with another batch of disasters. Yeesh.
Standout Tracks: "I'm Going to Heaven With or Without You (The Forest Fire)," "The Laying of Hands The Speaking In Tongues (The Mass Hysteria)" MIKE SHANLEY
