Madison-based group Paper Tiger have met almost all of the goals of forming a college band. Founded in 2003, the group have climbed up the ranks of local bands with appearances around and outside of campus and have now entered the recording world with Chemistry, an energetic debut album drawing from an entire periodic table of music styles.
From the start of the album, it is clear that Paper Tiger either do not notice or do not care that they are not playing before a full audience. The first track, Foreplay,\ opens on a rapid drum beat followed by intertwined country-style electric guitars. Between the force of lead singer Ty Christian and a vigorous bass solo by Graham Sazama, it takes the lack of body odor and stage lights to know this is not a live show.
Paper Tiger's music is punk rock at the core, but the group is not content to stick to the conventions of the four-piece band and freely change things around in some tracks. ""Ghosts"" breaks their electric mold by starting with an acoustic riff reminiscent of Spanish guitars, ""Look"" mixes a power drill in with lead guitarist Mike Brandt's solo to create a revolving sound and ""Unsaid"" creates an aural montage of charging trains, chainsaws and waves beating against rocks.
Some songs stand out even farther from the pack. The ironically titled ""Cycle of Violence"" is soft rock that feels like each member is holding something back out of respect, while closing track ""Audrey"" is a swaying rock opera of distortion. ""Unsaid,"" a Led Zeppelin-style song with an urban bass line, smoky vocals and a crisp guitar solo, evokes images of a gothic abandoned city.
Each band member brings something special to the album. With Jimmy Page-style screams on ""Fragile,"" distortion on ""Unsaid"" and wistful slowness on ""The Sea,"" Christian runs up and down the vocal spectrum and still has enough energy to cackle or beatbox in between songs. Sazama and Brandt can back up or stand alone with equal skill, and drummer Anthony Keyzers holds the entire album together with impressive force.
While on their live shows Paper Tiger borrow from established artists like Outkast and Guns N' Roses, they have relied solely on originals for their debut—a smart call, as these group compositions are strong both lyrically and musically. The lyrics may take a backseat to the band's musical force, but ignoring lines like ""The cold wind sets the tone / Over what used to be my own / And the more it feels like home / The more I feel alone"" is inexcusable.
Like the chemistry set you may have played with as a child, Chemistry is complex and entertaining—and in an improvement on that set, it can be enjoyed without the risk of lead poisoning. Paper Tiger have come up with a debut that moves at an excellent pace, and at the very end of the album when Christian says ""Oh my God—this is amazing,"" most listeners will find it hard to disagree.
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