Papercuts “You Can Have What You Want” Review

It is often difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt the review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective on the music here are four reactions, four impressions, Four Takes on You Can Have What You Want by Papercuts.

Jason Quever has reemerged under the Papercuts moniker again, with You Can Have What You Want, his first record in two years. It is an album filled with breezy, relaxed pop songs that, while they are all appealing, pleasant sounding tracks, inevitably lack soul and depth. The record is highly listenable, for there isn’t a song on the album that is grating or tuneless, but there aren’t many numbers on the album that present anything inspiring or indelible either, and ultimately I didn’t feel that challenged as a listener. It breezed by rather innocuously, seemingly coaxing the sun out from the shadows and briefly lightening my mood a bit, but essentially little else. There is a detachment to the record that is palpable, and it lacks emotion and scope, as the ’60′s easy-listening melodies seem to plod on, unchanging, throughout the duration of the songs. The first real burst of feeling I got from the album was, ironically enough, on the track titled “The Machines Will Tell Us So,” which has a real funereal, wistful sound to it, and a mournful chorus to match. And the Zombies-influenced bass line and hook of “Future Primitive” is enjoyably retro. But all in all, the record sounded dispassionate and isolated (perhaps due to Quever’s insistence on recording directly to tape), and rarely connected with me in any real way. It’s not an unpleasant listen in the least, just not an entirely memorable one. [Erik Thompson]

(uncredited press photo via Gnomonsong)

I shouldn’t really be allowed to talk about the new Papercuts album because I can’t really do so objectively. Fuzzy melodic folk rock just seems to do it for me. Throw in some vintage organ lines and I am pretty much a pie-eyed sucker. So it isn’t all that surprising that I love the Bay Area songwriter’s sophomore effort, You Can Have What You Want. The album’s 10 songs are a dreamy walk in the candy colored clouds of low-fi popland. Put a gun to my head and force me to deconstruct the music and I can come up with a few weaknesses: the song structures are pretty simplistic and avoid taking any chances in favor of a mellow overall calmness. Also, the lyrics occasionally sound a little mumbled. But hell, with melodies like “Once We Walked in the Sunlight,” “The Wolf,” or the self titled track; I really don’t give a damn. [Jon Behm]

In some sense, I’m the polar opposite of Jon. I thought it’d be hard for me to review this album objectively because I really can’t stand this new movement of lo-fi, whispery, barely-there indie rock. Give me a sneering, loudmouth lead singer and a rhythm section that can really snap over another mushmouth weepyfest any day. That being said, You Can Have What You Want, actually won me over. Papercuts might be the posterchild for the subgenre I despise, but he throws enough curve-balls here and reaches outside the box just enough to make the album pretty engaging. The backing arrangements are lively and catchy, driven by simple percussion and throwback organs, and the lo-fi haze that envelops the whole thing really meshes well with the subject matter of the songs. Mostly, however, I’m just a sucker for any songwriter who doesn’t just write overly-vague, relationship-oriented gibberish. Granted, this album contains a lot of vague gibberish, but its ambitions lie beyond another boy-done-wrong indie rock album and venture into creepy sci-fi territory. It’s a refreshing departure, and while I do wish it were easier to understand the lyrics upon first listen (he gets a little Thom Yorke-esque in places), I definitely appreciate the otherworldliness of both those lyrics and the album as a whole. [Kyle "Guante" Myhre]

(uncredited press photo via Gnomonsong)

Some people would consider describing an album as “good to put on as you fall asleep” an insult, but I am not one of those people. Like the rest of Papercuts’ discography, You Can Have What You Want is a pretty mellow affair. Jason Quever, the man behind the Papercuts moniker, creates gentle folk songs that are layered under a warm and soothing buzz that soaks the listener in to their simple pop arrangements. From the opening moments of the first track, “Once We Walked in the Sunlight” to the great album closer “The Wolf,” the album hums in a dream like state for its 10 song, 41 minute time frame. Listening to the album in my headphones, I found myself slipping away into daydreams and occasionally realizing I was not even catching the great songwriting and arrangements of Quever. Like fellow space pop brethren Grandaddy, the value of Papercuts will lie with each listener. For me, this album will be my new go to late night album after it is time to turn off the Fucked Up 7″ singles and get ready to coast off into sleep. [Josh Keller]

Purchase | MySpace | Wikipedia