{"id":523,"date":"2011-05-30T05:01:16","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T10:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=523"},"modified":"2011-05-30T05:01:16","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T10:01:16","slug":"album-review-the-paperhead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/05\/30\/album-review-the-paperhead\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Paperhead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lots of artists have jumped on the retro-psych bandwagon over the years. And as many have jumped back off again. Still, the list of groups who effectively conjured the vibe of the Byrds<\/strong>, Moby Grape<\/strong> and the Beatles<\/strong> does include some interesting names. In the 80s, Rain Parade<\/strong> did a fine job of updating the sound for that era. And the Brian Jones Massacre<\/strong> has (among other things) made a career out of deconstructing and reconstructing the lysergic spin of Satanic Majesties<\/em>-era Stones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Paperhead<\/strong> are three teenagers from Nashville. That\u2019s not the first place (or age) you\u2019d look for the latest spin through fuzzy, backwards guitars and cymbal crashes, but it\u2019s where you should look. The trio\u2019s self-titled album kicks off with \u201cLet Me Know,\u201d which truly does sound like laid-back, droning-yet-melodic track from psych\u2019s golden era.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cExcept From Simon\u2019s 1\u201d sounds like a demo from the A Saucerful of Secrets<\/em> sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvergreen Tangerine\u201d mixes in some folk to the jangle, hitting a sweet spot reminiscent of the criminally-ignored Clouded Staircase<\/em> from like-minded act Starling Electric<\/strong>. That it goes nowhere musically makes it not the slightest bit less wonderful. The fuzzy throb of \u201cBack to Those Days\u201d reminds one of the Black Angels<\/strong> at their most tuneful.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t Keep My Eyes Open\u201d could be slipped onto one of the collector-curated U-SPACES <\/em>sets, and no one would be the wiser. Flittering ring oscillators and whatnot give just the right spacey feel, and a Monkees<\/strong>-ish guitar riff fits nicely alongside a shimmering combo organ wash. Are we sure<\/em> these kids did this themselves, or is this the Electric Prunes<\/strong> masquerading as teens?<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy Living\u201d is (perhaps thankfully) not a Uriah Heep<\/strong> cover. It\u2019s a track where nearly everything except the vocal runs in reverse. Best experienced in a darkened room lit only by a lava lamp, it would seem all but impossible to pull off onstage. \u201cDo You Ever Think of Me?\u201d sounds — likely by design \u2013 uncannily like a Syd Barrett<\/strong> solo track.<\/p>\n

The short track \u201cExcept From Simon\u2019s 2\u201d will make listeners \u2013 at least the ones who\u2019ve made it this far and dig this style \u2013 want to hear the entire piece (assuming it exists). It\u2019s a one-chord psych jam, yet it\u2019s full of texture. \u201cGetting Older\u201d \u2013 a very brief cut — evokes Mass in F Minor<\/em>-era faux-Electric Prunes.<\/p>\n

On \u201cCome Again\u201d Paperhead conjures up bad-trip \u201cWe Love You\u201d era Stones. Based mostly around acoustic guitar and tambourine, electric instruments wash in and out of the mix, creating a pleasantly disorienting effect. The buzzing crosstalk of \u201cWisdom\u201d sounds like a link track from a film, something on the order of Quadrophenia<\/em> or The Wall<\/em>. Spooky and portentous of something\u2026but what?<\/p>\n

The Paperhead wrap up their debut with the folky, woozy campfire jangle of \u201cHe\u2019s Mirrored.\u201d The band sounds weary by this point, but it\u2019s a pleasant weariness, one that leaves this listener looking forward to the follow-up.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lots of artists have jumped on the retro-psych bandwagon over the years. And as many have jumped back off again. Still, the list of groups who effectively conjured the vibe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}