PADDLEFISH- FLYER ALBUM REVIEW

    There is a lot of infatuation going on in our generation around 90's rock. I mean, who can blame us? You've got Nirvana and the grunge boys, Radiohead's magnum opus with OK Computer; and how can we forget class acts like Pixies (its pixies not "the pixies" you fucking poser), Cocteau Twins, Pavement, and Dinosaur Jr. coming to the fray( no pun intended). 

    The 90s was the decade where rock finally took the lid off of the genre. Every other decade created a subgenre within rock, but didn't really have the diversity between acts to back it up very well. The 90s also possessed a double-edged sword in the fact that 90s rock was the last decade of rock relevancy, if we are being completely honest with ourselves. 

    Everything post nineties has been some form of capitalistic brainchild, or a fusion of genres that are way cooler than rock in and of itself. Or, as we see today, an extension of the original root. Like you had the whole emo-rock phase, but I personally try to forget that that travesty to music had ever existed. Mac Demarco is probably the closest thing that we have gotten to both originality and commercial success as far as rock is concerned in this millennia, everything else has been completely and utterly: a fucking joke.( if I missed anyone, sue me).

Can we get a paddlefish to enter stage left please? 

    I could go into the grueling details of the band's backstory, lineup, and mission statement, but that shit is bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbboring as fuck (who needs setting and context this is the internet bro). If I have done my job as a writer, then you'll want to figure all of that stuff out for your self. And (hot take incoming) I honestly believe that stuff to be filler.     All you need to know is that Paddlefish is a four-piece band from Chicago that utilizes the blueprints left by their rock ancestors in a way that is purely their own. With singer/guitarist Owen Misterovich at the helm, he and his all-star line up of bassist Bayden Fraley, lead guitarist Zaida Wade, and drummer Missy (enter last name here) weave together their respective talents to create an aural fabric that tastes of a warm hug given to you by your nan on her deathbed. Their first studio album, Flyer, delivers the aforementioned fabric with the cleanliness and enthusiasm of a salesman, and the soul of a night out on the town.

    Flyer could easily fit within any of the last 30 years of music. This ambiguity serves Paddlefish with their best interest in mind. You can tell that they have listened to some of the classic material listed above, but their influences are not overt or apparent. They own that "I can't quite put my finger on it" quality. That je ne sais quoi. That feeling of oddly familiar. Listening to Flyer feels like being on the brink of a sneeze, but without the anxiety. You have a feeling of what is coming, but you couldn't describe that feeling if your life depended on it. And, like Flyer, that feeling never gets old. 

The album, as a whole, is a story of travel that beautifully showcases the emotional turmoil in leaving the nest.

    I had the pleasure of meeting Paddlefish at a house show on the East side of Detroit. When I first met Owen, he had told me that he had moved from Missouri to Chicago. That is a huge jump! He had went from a place where the population of New York City is greater than all of the people living in the state combined, to New York City Jr. (Chicago). 

    No wonder why the themes of uncertainty, harsh criticism from loved ones, longing for a place to belong, and homesickness are prevalent throughout the album's tracklist. The different songs fit together to convey these emotions in a sublime and easy manner. There are no fancy bells and whistles, no gimmicks, and no parlor tricks involving the album. It just gives you the band's spirit straight up. A well put together exhibition of solid rock songs that seem like joy and harmony on the surface. However, if you were to look a little bit closer, then you can see the moods running off of the framework.

    The album starts off with an introduction to their premier song, "Good as Dead", that screams of little toy soldiers era Aerosmith. A 12-string guitar cascades into lush open chords, accompanied by wailing blues riffs, while Mr. Misterovich sings of his past ghosts both haunting and taunting him. 

    The singer spins a tale of him getting a call from someone close to him after finally making it to Chicago, and from his perspective it was quite unpleasant. There is nothing worse than untimely criticism, (but what criticism is timely for that matter?) especially when you are unsure of your decisions, and it can do more harm than good. But the ghost of Owen's past just had to get some stuff off of their chest (you know how selfish our loved ones can be at times). 

    With loneliness and anxiety close to his side, the unnamed phenomena said that Owen had sold his soul for selfish reasons by moving away from his home. These raucous remarks did nothing but fuel his fear of living in a new environment. Owen later revealed that not even the one thing that we need in order to survive, money, would have killed his boredom of living in his hometown. Moving was essential to the boy's happiness, not for some peasly material gains. I mean, who would move to a city where half of you're time being alive is working to survive, for money?

    After  the ruminations of the past come to pass is when the drums kick in; changing the mood of the song  from slow and somber to skittish and bouncy. Don't let the mood swing fool you though , the song doesn't get any less heavier lyrically. With vocals that make it seem like he's J Mascis little brother (but a little less whiny and lovestruck), Misterovich talks about his confusion in the world, where even the colors in the sky didn't even work anymore. The comfort and defense mechanisms that he enjoyed in his previous environment was nowhere to be found. With no answers in sight, the song makes you ask the question "What could he have done in the situation"? I don't know, but he somehow managed to pull through enough to record this album. 

    The kicker is in the chorus, where doo-wop backing vocals meet constant snare-and-guitar pounding; in sync with every up, down, and all around beat. Haunting him once more, the ghost of Owen's past decided that telling him that he sold his soul wasn't berating enough. To cap off the conversation, and the chorus, it had the nerve to tell the Paddlefish frontman that he was (as the title suggests) "Good As Dead!" A kick in the balls indeed.

    This is the first song off of the album folks. The first song is usually the banger of the album. It starts off the album right, and sets the tone of the entire piece. All of these facts are true with "Good as Dead". You can expect this much emotional depth within all of the songs on Flyer, and there isn't a major dropoff anywhere. Of course if I went into this much detail on all eight songs, then this review would turn into a 20 page dissertation on why Paddlefish chugs. I don't have the time to write 20 page dissertations folks, that's the sole reason why I decided to become a musician: to avoid writing 20 page dissertations. 

    Next is the lightening round, where all of the highlights of Flyer will be highlighted in the only way that I can comfortably highlight them: a tier list. Why a tier list you ask? Well, objectifying something that is as subjective as music is one of the few masochistic tendencies that I am proud of! Let us begin!

We will first start off in S tier.

    There are two songs that deserve the ranking of S-Tier on Flyer, and those two songs are "Small Song", and "Built A Glider". 

    When discussing these two songs, nothing but an Amalgamation of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. comes to mind. Small Song screams of a stereotypical indie rock prom music video, and it sounds like something J Mascis would write in his spare time. With a quirky melody, crushing guitar tone, and a verse that is better than the chorus (a very rare feat indeed) , it is by far the best song on Flyer. Even the band agrees with me on this statement (I assume), for they were the ones who decided to release it as the solo single to the album. 

    The other twin of the S-Tier, "Built A Glider", reminds me of a Sonic Youth song that was on the cutting floor for Daydream Nation. The melody is very out of the box, but also very simple. The guitar rips like the verse on "Teenage Riot", and the drums and bass lock together like the chains that keeps Cerberus in Hades. 

    I haven't really talked a lot about the rhythm section, but without them Paddlefish wouldn't even exist. The rhythm section in bands are like the offensive line in football. They do all of the heavy lifting, and without them you cannot move the ball. Honestly, they don't get enough credit due to the simple fact that we only care about the voice that translates all of their hard work But that's only AFTER we've decided whether the beat is good or not. 

    Missy, Bayden, Zaida, this is your well deserved shoutout in a place where only your hardcore fans will (hopefully) ever read it. You keep the ride smooth on the Paddlefish boat, and we all get to eat because of it.

 

Then, there is the A tier. 

    These are songs that I think are good, but not as transcendental as the previous two songs. There are 4 songs that are under this classification. They are "Good As Dead", "Turnpike", "Enough", and "The Web". With each of these songs, I feel like they could be S tier, if the S tier wasn't so damn good. 

    Take "Enough" for example. It reminds me of walking through a major city without any aim or direction. It is short and sweet, and feature primarily an acoustic guitar, a drumpad that only has a kick and a snare, and a cello for harmony. The instrumentation reminds me of something that came out of Thom Yorke's head, and that is saying something. 

    The other standout song in the A-tier is "The Web", a song about having a longing for home, and going your separate ways with people. It's a cool song that features a Wurlitzer and arpeggiated guitar. The chorus isn't really a chorus, but a jam section with the entire band that includes a 1-5-4 chord progression and a ripper of a guitar riff. I'd fuck it.

    That's "Enough" of A tier for you. Before we get into B tier, let me provide a disclaimer. 

    All of the songs on Flyer are of quality, and Paddlefish's B tier is the most average band's S tier. It's like trying to compare power scales between Animes. You can't really compare Naruto to Dragonball Z because their power scales are on two different levels. Like Yamcha is the weakest character in DBZ, but he can easily box with most characters in Naruto because he was able to hang with Goku before Goku became a Super Saiyan; and DBZ has characters that are capable of single-handedly destroying entire planets in their show. Paddlefish are the DBZ of indie Rock. If they were to be a specific character, then it would be Trunks without a doubt. Ok time to put the inner weeb away......for now.

    With that being said, the songs that I enjoyed the least on Flyer were "Drain All" and "Oh Doctor".

    The second song on the project always has a hard time following up the first. That's why bands started making the first song not really a song at all, and the second song the real bopper. A classic example of this is Deerhunter's "Halcyon Digest". 

    Unfortunately, "Drain All" was burdened by the greatness of "Good As Dead". It starts off like a WW1 private's trudge into the trenches of Berlin; with its languid guitar playing whole notes that are covered in sludge and fuzz. And then it ends like a play-date with sandcastles. The chorus is really good, but I felt like it didn't stand up to the previously named giants.

    "Oh Doctor" is a bouncy, loveable, and brightly piano-laden track, but I did not enjoy the chorus that much. The best part of the song was the outro, not because it was the end of the song, but because of the backing vocals that were tied together as well as the chorus of an Ancient Greek Tragedy. Yet and still, I could not get jiggy with it.

    All memes aside, Flyer is an excellent album. It has a soul of its own, and a lot of variety in between songs as well. However, within the variety there are apparent themes that unfold and mold the album into shape. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a good time for half an hour. Or anyone who wants to feel the familiar feeling of slow-dancing with your loved one, while also enjoying the eversopleasant stimuli of new music. Let's see where the paddles will take Paddlefish next!