The Paper Chase | Now You Are One Of Us
I used the past week and time away from work to go back and listen to some albums that I didn’t get around to during the summer and fall months. I decided to ignore this blog and pretty much the internet altogether in order to give the albums my full attention.
The first album in my queue was The Paper Chase’s fourth full-length, Now You Are One Of Us. The Dallas, TX quartet gives the listener fair notice on what to expect from the album’s cover art, which depicts the lower half of a man dangling from the ceiling in a little white room with a TV in the corner. The 15-tracks that make up Now You Are One Of Us evoke a sense of fear and darkness. They are paranoid and chaotic; driven by dissonent strings, trouncing pianos, angular guitars, and filled with samples taken from horror films. The result is 51-minutes of frightening beauty better fitting a release at the end of October rather than the summer (when the album was released).
Fans of The Paper Chase will (and probably already have) embrace Now You Are One of Us as their signature sounds and nasaly vocals of John Congleton are present throughout the album. Now You Are One of Us is also more accessible than the band’s previous efforts, making it the perfect introductory album for the first time listener. It’s by far one of the most unique and underappreciated albums of the year.
Keep an eye on the band’s website as they are currently planning a tour for early next year that will include East Coast dates. Now You Are One of Us is out now on Kill Rock Stars.
The Paper Chase ”We Know Where You Sleep” (highly recommended)
I love The Paper Chase and I’m glad you got around to listening to their amazing album. They are on their Explosions in the Sky tour right now and they’ve got some updated clips up on their website http://www.thepaperchase.net!