The Paper Chase - Hide the Kitchen Knives
(Beatville)
3 stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: Aug. 30, 2002
By Tony Bonyata
Ever wondered what type of music a serial killer listens to? Me neither, but if we did it might sound something like what the Dallas, Texas-based band The Paper Chase has recently produced.
Chaotic, demented and twisted, this quartet nonetheless manages to rock hard without easily falling into any prefabricated metal genre on their third full-length album, Hide the Kitchen Knives. Electronic samples snake through the band's raw instrumentations, while vocals scream, plead and rant throughout. Although bassist Bobby Weaver and drummer Aryn Dalton lay down a wealth of earthshattering rhythms and pianist Matt Armstrong sprinkles in some sinister keys along with his spooky electronic voices, it's vocalist, guitarist and songwriter John Congleton that is the main culprit in this musical assault-and-battery.
With piercing dagger-like guitars, similar to those heard on early Jesus Lizard efforts, Congleton stabs his leads in and out of his numbers, occasionally pulling back just to see if there's any life left within the song, and when Dalton's thundering bass drum gives him reassurance that there's still a fight left, Congleton's high-pitched, whiney yelps sprint to the front-line like a rabid ape.
While much of the music offered up on Hide the Kitchen Knives is intriguing - if only for their spastic uniqueness, it's the strange stories told by Congleton that should be under psychiatric evaluation. The song titles alone, such as "I Did a Terrible Thing," "I Tried So Hard To Be Good," "Sleep With the Fishes," I'm Gonna Spend The Rest of My Life Lying" and "Out Come the Knives," pretty much tell you how many of these woeful tales end up.
Interesting in their twisted delivery and creepy, by not knowing exactly what's lurking in the shadows, their music makes for a perfect prelude to the Halloween season.