The Paper Chase Bless Our Black Hearts

jharv | September 10, 2007 1:05 am
As a way of washing the VMA toxins out of our system, Maura and I are currently listening to the gorgeous, overwrought, and archly macbare sounds of Dallas, Texas’ Paper Chase, a band who put out one of my favorite records of 2006, the absurdly underrated Now You Are One Of Us on Kill Rock Stars. The lack of attention was especially inexplicable to me because it was also an album that–with its over the top cabaret piano and string arrangements, vicious and unpredictable guitar skronk, blackly amusing (and occasionally faintly disturbing) musings of lead howler/guitarist/sonic mastermind John Congleton, and several large dabs of both black mascara and good ol’ fashioned indie rock–should have been eight kinds of successful in the year that ornate, goth emo went bazillion times platinum. (Plus they friggin’ bring it live, to the point where a friend leaned over to me mid-set a few months ago and said “I think the drummer just rendered me sterile.”) “Said The Spider To The Fly” from 2004’s God Bless Your Black Heart, is less noisy and fractured than the best of Now You Are One Of Us, but hopefully it will convert a few more fans in my informal quest to make this band huge.

Paper Chase – “Said The Spider To The Fly” [YouTube]The Paper Chase [Official Site]