- Release date:
- July 8, 2008
- Artist/Band name:
- Paramount Styles
- Record label:
- Cycle/Konkurrent/Touch & Go
- Official Web Site:
- http://www.myspace.com/paramountstylesnyc
Backstory: Scott McCloud's sore-throat sing-alongs helped put post-punk standouts Girls Against Boys on the music map. The band's melding of Fugazi-inspired rock with double basses and McCloud's lounge-lizard delivery eventually netted them a nice stack of indie cred. And McCloud's latest incarnation is similarly fitted: Paramount Styles specializes in windswept rock delivered in whispers and kinetic grooves.
Why you should care: McCloud is a D.C. hardcore vet who's walked the tightrope between accessibility and experimentation. He’s an acquired taste; his voice rarely extends past its favored mode, an intonation that breaks into growls as the suspense thickens. But his sardonic insights into the vagaries of contemporary life are worth the hazing.
Verdict: The opener "Alleyesareonyounowmypet" is a slow burn that gathers momentum the deeper it digs into derangement. The polished pop of "Paradise Happens" and the rough acoustics of "Hollywood Tales 2" are arcane lessons learned, whose urgency is heavily mirrored in the flanged finale "More Than Alive." McCloud has been there and done that, and he takes pains to transmit his pain. Sometimes the soundtrack is suitably engaged, as on "I Keep Losing You," and sometimes it's mere background. But the unfurling dramas pay off, if only in understated ways. Contrary to his band's name, McCloud's paramount style doesn't stand out, but it does creep up on you.
X-Factor: Although McCloud hasn't released a full-length since the last Girls Against Boys effort in 2002, he hasn’t been laying low. In the interim, he's worked with Courtney Love, scored music for the film "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," and shown up on a rock-and-reality TV show starring Gina Gershon.
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