Released - 3/24/09
Label - Gnomosong
BLURB - This dreamy collection of ambient '60's style folk-pop is like tumbleweed blowing by a deserted road. It doesn't move in any particular direction, even though it looks like it's trying to. 'You Can Have What You Want' is incredibly simple, yet doesn't sound as if it is from 2009. I've listened to this record more than I should probably admit, but with the album being so vague, it's hard to recall any specific 'highs' and 'lows.' Wholly, this record is breezy and great background music for some light afternoon reading, it's very unassuming and neutral. Individually, nothing jumps out and it's almost impossible to differentiate between songs and even between what is great and what is terrible.
Rating - 6.5 out of 10
FULL STORY - This is probably the least memorable disc that I've heard this year, yet I listen to it a fair amount. It's incredibly relaxing and full of air. The problem is that after hearing each song, one instantly forgets it, deleting it from their musical memory. The record is filled with organs, strings, pianos, acoustic guitars and tons of background vocals. Production of 'You Can Have What You Want' was obviously done to mimmic the '60's and '70's. This record would have been perfect for the California hippies after a long day of surfing, coming back to their apartment to smoke pot and reflect.
Shifting to the present day, the track that I am most fond of is, 'Dictator's Lament.' For anyone that has seen Napoleon Dynamite, this song sounds like every number that was used as a transition between scenes. There is a very heavy, almost wet-sounding organ that plays throughout the tune. Each track on this album has so much reverb and fuzz, giving depth to alot of the lighter melodies that present themselves.
The best 'Non-Napoleon Dynamite' track is 'Future Primitive,' and definitely reverts back to the '60's with its' lyrical content pertaining to an apathetic soldier who fights in a war, and upon returning can't look at himself in the mirror. Some pretty heavy stuff, actually. The drums are almost done to a melancholy marching pace and one can picture themselves entering a battle in which they don't want to be in. The title track follows up, 'Future Primitive' nicely, painting a canvas of understanding, acceptance and hope:
"You can have what you want and throw the rest away. The things you said you wanted are all left out for you."
This is a nice little reminder to us common-folk, that nothing ever really prevents us from getting what we want or need. This song features some nice background vocals and its' simplicity and broadness provides more meaning than the song should have.
Outside of these three tracks, or should I say with these three tracks, this record sounds like one long song. The only thing that really changes is the instrumentation, with the pace of the record remaining in the slow to very slow range. This is good and bad. It's good because you can just throw this record on, do some thinking, maybe read a book and you can really relax. I listen to this all the time at work when I have something complex to work on and don't want to be distracted. There's no foot tapping or snapping to this record. You don't all of a sudden skip to track eight because it has a great chorus and then back to track four because there is a cool guitar part. It's bad, however, because there is nothing to differentiate between songs. I only mentioned, 'Dictator's Lament,' 'Future Primitive,' and 'You Can Have What You Want' because those are probably the only songs of which I know the names to, and I've had this album for three months.
The Papercuts will ultimately stay in my music rotation but for the wrong reasons. This is what I want to listen to when I don't want to listen to anything in particular. It's easy on the ears and doesn't require your undivided attention. Great coffeehouse music. Unfortunately, this isn't the '60's anymore and 99.99% of the world won't pay attention to The Papercuts, including myself.
Tracks
1.) Once We Walked in the Sunlight
2.) Dictator's Lament
3.) This Machine Will Tell Us So
4.) A Peculiar Hallelujah
5.) Jet Plane
6.) Dead Love
7.) Future Primitive
8.) You Can Have What You Want
9.) The Void
10.) The Wolf
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