Out Come The Knives

I love music.  I also have a huge appetite for new music.  I mean, of course, "new to me", and not, "recently recorded".  Amazon has a delicious mp3 store that frequently has albums on sale for $5 (or less).  This allows me to indulge my large appetite on the cheap, and I thank them for it.

I listen to many genres of music.  Mostly rock-based (of many stripes), but also jazz, folk, rap, swing, pop, avant garde, and whatever else may find its way onto my iPod.

So, I had this crazy idea that, in order to keep myself writing, I'd start doing reviews (for lack of a better word) of the new music I was picking up.  I don't plan on necessarily going into the back catalog, but we'll see what your feedback and my whims lead to.

Luckily, this idea coincided with a purchase from one of my favorite bands - one that I've mentioned on this blog and also on FB several times - The Paper Chase.

 

 

Hide the Kitchen Knives

by The Paper Chase

 

I started listening to The Paper Chase based on a recommendation from a like-minded, music afficionado, friend of mine.  The album that I heard first was their third, God Bless Your Black Heart.  I have since collected all of their albums.  Hide the Kitchen Knives was their second album and the fifth for me.

Musically, HTKK fits right in with the rest of their work, and is a step forward from their debut album, Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know.  The production is more refined, and the band is once again led by mastermind/vocalist ("singer" might be a stretch)/guitarist/songwriter/producer, John Congleton. 

Describing The Paper Chase in words is liked trying to describe the feeling of your first kiss or, more accurately, your first fistfight.  The music is an experimental combination of guitar, bass, drums, piano, and samples.  The band is very tight, but never sounds that way, because their music is so discordant.  It sounds as if the musicians might all be playing the same song, but aren't sure what key they're supposed to be playing in.  I can't tell if Congleton's just such a genius that he can bludgeon these disparate sounds into an overall vision, or if each part being wrong ends up sounding all right in the end.

The songs are arranged in such a way that they move from positively bludgeoning, to quiet and almost-beautiful.  The listener is never allowed to rest, though.  Something will keep upsetting any attempt to just float along with the music, whether it's an intentional, "bad" note, or the theme of the lyrics.  The Paper Chase are also not afraid to let various band members rest for a bit.  Instruments drop in and out of the music to suit the arrangements.  Songs blend together, making the work seem like a concept album, even when it isn't.  Samples are not loops of music bits or sound effects, for the most part, but snippets of voice recordings.  Most appear to be recordings of surviving relatives of crime victims.  They add a creepy layer to the proceedings, boosting the unease created by the music.

Lyrically, the Paper Chase craft an ugly world, giving the impression of a run-down Texas trailer park in mid-August, populated entirely by dysfunctional families whose members have nothing but utter contempt for each other.  Surprisingly, though, the lyrics are quite literate and contain some clever wordplay and dark humor.

All of these elements are in play on HTKK.  The Paper Chase defintely have a sound, and they stick with it.  The vocals lean toward the raw delivery that would fade a bit on subsequent albums.  The lyrics continue their penchant for dark wordplay, and are still painting a dirty, sweaty world.  The music is just as experimental and unsettling.  Basically, I got exactly what I wanted/expected from the album.  The band is in fine form, and the production sounds better than that on Young Bodies.

The highest compliment I can pay to The Paper Chase is that they don’t sound like anyone else.  At least, no one that I’ve heard of.  Most of the time, when you listen to a new band, I will compare the band  to another band (or bands).  “They sound like X, but with the vocals of Y”.  I honestly cannot draw any meaningful comparison.  For me, finding a band that has a wholly unique sound is automatically worth a listen.  Hide the Kitchen Knives, while not necessarily my favorite album by TPC, is certainly a great example of their sound for someone who would like to give them a try.