Labels: Viper Bite
Review by: Andy Malcolm
This EP gets off to a great start, with a title track that Jimmy Eat World forgot to record at some point just after Clarity. A rip-roaring, poppy number full of powerful guitar belting and vocals that aren’t a million miles from the lad Adkins. Plenty of little touches also point at Jimmy, it’s hard to describe exactly what I mean but you’ll know when you hear them. Calling something like this Power Pop will offend thousands of people who buy power pop records on Deranged, but it’s a fair description – it is basically pop music with the guitar cranked up loud and played energetically. It’s all tune, good songwriting and catchiness. Cheesy, yet entirely satisfying. They lose their way though in places, such as on “Words You Never Learned” where they fuck around a bit. Seriously guys, you are a pop band, play pop songs, don’t get artsy with guitar squeals and feedback like you are god damn Drive Like Jehu or something! No pretense!
I don’t know a huge amount of people who’d admit to liking stuff like this, but if you buy each new Jimmy Eat World record on vinyl as soon as it comes out then you’ll certainly have no issue with Paper the Operator. Where they lack some of the immediacy of that band, they make up for it with a little bit of the rawer energy that you used to get from them before they had a budget to record. Apologies for harping on with just one angle to this review, but it’s a really obvious one, and a fair one too. Paper the Operator are a dashed fine band and if you like your pop music to have heft, you should check this one out.