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2LP
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TROST 086LP
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Originally released in 2004, God Bless Your Black Heart from Texas band The Paper Chase is the sound of everything falling apart; the sound of frustration, the sound of wanting and rejecting love, life, and death. The focus is on human interaction where "anything can happen, anything can go wrong." It's a terrifyingly stark album, with harsh arrangements along with John Congleton's unique, seemingly improvised guitar work and strained vocal chords, setting a blueprint for what was to follow. Sounds like an unhinged portrayal of a young man's descent into madness with self-immolating lyrics and needle-in-the-eyeball agony -- a disturbing yet seductive listen. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold sleeve.
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2LP
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TROST 090LP
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2006 release. The Paper Chase's signature sounds (strangled guitars, bombastic percussion, terror-stricken strings, bizarre samples and crashing pianos) are firmly in place on Now You Are One of Us. Here, the Dallas quartet creates the sonic equivalent to George A. Romero's classic zombie films, in which one and all inevitably become "one of them." Songwriter/singer John Congleton examines the way fear can be utilized as an instrument of control, even as it spreads like a plague across the land. Possessed by fear of pacification, domestication and ultimate dissolve, the characters in the songs struggle to retain their identity. Layers of trepidation are aurally peeled away and scrutinized while a looming unknown lies just below the surface. Beyond the fear of death is the characters' dreadful realization that perhaps they never even existed. The sound of ghostly forces opening and closing squeaky doors becomes eerily significant, and Congleton's trademark desperation is at its most crucial. Despite the disturbed poltergeists that are its roommates, The Paper Chase sound right at home in their self-wrought haunted house. Over the album's seamless course, the band not only offers battle anthems for those who won't go down without a fight, but also the sadistic theme songs of their bloodthirsty attackers. Housed in a full-color gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet.
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