The Paper Cranes‘ first album, Halcyon Days, was essentially a new wave revival album, with breezy synths, straightforward dance beats and Robert Smith-aping vocals. It was an enjoyable collection, although it sounded a hell of a lot like Hot Hot Heat—not coincidentally, a fellow Victoria band.
Thankfully, group’s second album, Chivalry’s Dead, is a lot harder to pin down. It’s only eight songs long, its runtime barely exceeding 28 minutes, but it’s a more confident, memorable effort by far. On “Black Centipedes,” singer Ryan McCullagh spits and slurs like Joe Strummer while the band thunders through a drum-and-bass groove that sounds like a classic British spy song, right down to the delayed guitar flourishes and smooth sax licks. “The Cavelier,” meanwhile, plays choppy guitars against ’70s keyboard cheese, sounding so much like Elvis Costello that the song probably could have been slotted into Get Happy!! without anyone noticing the difference.
All of the album’s stylistic forays are enjoyable, but the best of the bunch are the bouncy piano pop numbers. Lead single “Telephone” is a straightforward rocker, its double-time piano pounding accentuated by wheezy harmonica breaks and fuzzy guitar leads. “Thorazine Shuffle” has a similarly chirpy rhythm, but the lyrics are pure Thom Yorke-style paranoia, containing allusions to Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi propaganda film) and a refrain of “We have so many ways to get what we are after / We have ways of making you talk.”
mp3: “Telephone”
Despite the occasional tendency to lean a little too hard on their influences, the Paper Cranes have crafted a consistently enjoyable album in Chivalry’s Dead. And, as knockouts like “Thorazine Shuffle” prove, the band is well on its way to finding a voice of its own.
Chivalry’s Dead is out now via Unfamiliar.
Thankfully, group’s second album, Chivalry’s Dead, is a lot harder to pin down. It’s only eight songs long, its runtime barely exceeding 28 minutes, but it’s a more confident, memorable effort by far. On “Black Centipedes,” singer Ryan McCullagh spits and slurs like Joe Strummer while the band thunders through a drum-and-bass groove that sounds like a classic British spy song, right down to the delayed guitar flourishes and smooth sax licks. “The Cavelier,” meanwhile, plays choppy guitars against ’70s keyboard cheese, sounding so much like Elvis Costello that the song probably could have been slotted into Get Happy!! without anyone noticing the difference.
All of the album’s stylistic forays are enjoyable, but the best of the bunch are the bouncy piano pop numbers. Lead single “Telephone” is a straightforward rocker, its double-time piano pounding accentuated by wheezy harmonica breaks and fuzzy guitar leads. “Thorazine Shuffle” has a similarly chirpy rhythm, but the lyrics are pure Thom Yorke-style paranoia, containing allusions to Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi propaganda film) and a refrain of “We have so many ways to get what we are after / We have ways of making you talk.”
mp3: “Telephone”
Despite the occasional tendency to lean a little too hard on their influences, the Paper Cranes have crafted a consistently enjoyable album in Chivalry’s Dead. And, as knockouts like “Thorazine Shuffle” prove, the band is well on its way to finding a voice of its own.
Chivalry’s Dead is out now via Unfamiliar.
