The Paper Chase

The Paper Chase: Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1 (2009)
Kill Rock Stars

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

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Contributed by: skaboomskaboom
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Published on June 16th 2009Every summer needs a soundtrack. It seems that just about every year, one album unexpectedly crops up that becomes synonymous with warm evenings, hanging out with friends and driving with the windows down. The Bouncing Souls' appropriately titled How I Spent My Summer Vacation is a perfect example o.

Every summer needs a soundtrack. It seems that just about every year, one album unexpectedly crops up that becomes synonymous with warm evenings, hanging out with friends and driving with the windows down. The Bouncing Souls' appropriately titled How I Spent My Summer Vacation is a perfect example of this -- a truly life-affirming album that you can always count on to lift your spirits.

Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1 is not that album. Yet in a way, this is the perfect collection of songs for the moment we are living in. The Paper Chase have become experts at crafting songs that ooze with anxiety and malaise, themes perhaps more appropriate for a year marked by economic recession, international instability and fears of a pandemic. Someday This Could All Be Yours finds the band at the top of their game, crafting songs that are simultaneously dense and desolate, meticulously measured and reckless.

Each of the 10 songs focuses on a different disaster. Some can be interpreted literally. "The Common Cold (The Epidemic)," which uses a prominent bass groove to create a danceable vibe, has eerily close parallels to the recent H1N1 flu scare that gripped the world. Others, like "This Is a Rape (The Flood)," use uncomfortably blunt lyrics to describe catastrophic events in a more metaphorical manner. The lyrical range keeps the band from ever being cheesy or contrived, a problem that often hounds groups associated with a dark image or sound.

The Paper Chase makes use of piano to complement the typical guitar-bass-drums instrumentation, but more striking is how they use it. The piano is used here primarily as a rhythm instrument, with staccato chords nervously pounded away at a feverish pace. In contrast, the barely in-tune guitar breaks up the plodding rhythm with jagged, discordant lines. An array of sound effects including air raid sirens, dial tones and pig squeals further complicate the aural landscape without ever cluttering it up. Frontman John Congleton is renown as a music producer, so it's no surprise that he fits such a divergent number of sounds into a single track while making it all work with the overall feel of the song.

Someday This Will All Be Yours, Vol. 1 will not be the quintessential "feel-good summer album" of 2009, but it may very well be the best album to come out this summer. The title suggests a sequel of sorts in the future and, as pensive and moody as these songs are, the prospect of more Paper Chase on the horizon should give everyone a little bit of comfort.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

JRNJPMA (December 11, 2009)

This is WITHOUT QUESTION the best album of 2009.
Also in my top five you be an album the singer of Paper Chase produced, Pomegranate, by Astronautalis

Please read my interview with The Paper Chase
http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/the-cult-of-the-pap er-chase

overdefined (June 22, 2009)

"I have never heard of this band at all. But I have to wonder if their name "The Paper Chase" has something to do with Yellowcard's last full length "PAPER Walls" which came out almost two years ago on July 17th, 2009. For those of you itching to hear Ryan and the boys crank out some new tunage, run (don't walk) to the iTunes site and download their new release, DEEP CUTS. It came out on Tueday and I literally haven't stopped listening to it since."

"Oh my lord that is blasmphemous. The Paper Chase has been around way longer than those losert. Hey, I have a violin, look at me! Fuck those guys. Score is for you being a commercial on a channel where you're not wanted. Paper Chase fans probably don't listen to Yellowcard. Or at least, I hope they don't."

Uh, dude.....

SilentStorms (June 22, 2009)

"I have never heard of this band at all. But I have to wonder if their name "The Paper Chase" has something to do with Yellowcard's last full length "PAPER Walls" which came out almost two years ago on July 17th, 2009. For those of you itching to hear Ryan and the boys crank out some new tunage, run (don't walk) to the iTunes site and download their new release, DEEP CUTS. It came out on Tueday and I literally haven't stopped listening to it since."

Oh my lord that is blasmphemous. The Paper Chase has been around way longer than those losert. Hey, I have a violin, look at me! Fuck those guys. Score is for you being a commercial on a channel where you're not wanted. Paper Chase fans probably don't listen to Yellowcard. Or at least, I hope they don't.

Hey_Asshole (June 21, 2009)

hooray yellowcard meme.

all this thread needs is Against Me guy, and a good dose of "words cannot express how much fuck this band"

Yellow_Card (June 18, 2009)

I have never heard of this band at all. But I have to wonder if their name "The Paper Chase" has something to do with Yellowcard's last full length "PAPER Walls" which came out almost two years ago on July 17th, 2009. For those of you itching to hear Ryan and the boys crank out some new tunage, run (don't walk) to the iTunes site and download their new release, DEEP CUTS. It came out on Tueday and I literally haven't stopped listening to it since.

scruffy (June 18, 2009)

"You realize this is punknews.org? The biggest congregation of fucking dorks on the internet"

Ahem.

4chan.org
somethingawful.com
fark.com

elephantdwarf (June 18, 2009)

this record is so fucking good. lightyears better than their last. i can't wait for part 2.

icapped2pac (June 17, 2009)

"You realize this is punknews.org? The biggest congregation of fucking dorks on the internet"

Truer words were never spoken, and accordingly I couldn't be more at home.

danperrone (June 17, 2009)

slow ass week when this is #1

Archangel (June 17, 2009)

... so...

what the fuck does this album sound like? I have no idea.

KevinJamesSuperFan (June 17, 2009)

"what a dorky thing to say"

You realize this is punknews.org? The biggest congregation of fucking dorks on the internet

overdefined (June 17, 2009)

"the unquotable a.m.h. was just released this week, so your claims of "best album of the summer" are faulty.

no score, do over, see me after class."

What a dorky think to say.

oldpunkerforever (June 17, 2009)

Best album to come out this summer is by a band called the Aggrolites, hands down, score is for them-oldpunker-

24hourpriapism (June 16, 2009)

the unquotable a.m.h. was just released this week, so your claims of "best album of the summer" are faulty.

no score, do over, see me after class.

i-type-poorly (June 16, 2009)

These guys do make the same album every time, but they get better at it with each one. This album rocks.

KevinJamesSuperFan (June 16, 2009)

I really like this band but the more I listen to them, the more I realize that all their shit sounds the same. Outside of tempo changes and whatnot, they're a very fomulaic band. A very original formula for sure, but very same sounding within themselves.

And yea, I have all of there music and am not making some sort of snap judgement...been a fan for years

Blackjaw_x (June 16, 2009)

Never mind, I got them mixed up with The Paper Champions.

mikexdude (June 16, 2009)

liguykjhad I can understand a lot of the four star ratings but there have been A LOT of 9's and 10's in the rating... Milo Goes to College... that's a perfect score and this can't be anywhere close to that.

When reviewing things, you have to separate being a fan and a reviewer -- with a different perspective. You know I won't be reviewing Polar Bear Club.

Who knows, maybe this is a perfect score.