REVIEW: PAPERMOONS 7"

From when much younger, perhaps not quite old enough to be doing it, perhaps barely so, fond and distinct memories of riding around in a faux-wood sided station wagon in rural Wisconsin still remain. Brown County to be exact. Up rolling knolls on dirt and gravel rolls, occasionally intersected with pavement, all bordering farmland and none running too far before requiring a short perpendicular jaunt to make allowance for the ever-rectangular, never-aligned edges of property ownership. Past red barns and green field, and palisades of trees guarding hidden streams; past small towns and smaller cemeteries, Lions Club Halls in parks with wood and metal swings and see-saws. A world too Rockwell to be real, but too immediate to be sentimental.

We have no memory of what we listened to in the Chevy as it sped so fast that the world stood still. Probably it was loud; possibly it was angsty or goofy or both. But if it had to be re-enacted, and in my life I would like it to be (though no measure of Neverland could ever make this man boy again), we would bring along the Papermoons’ 7” for the soundtrack.

Gentle, almost doe-eyed; immune to the rush of the wicked window wind who detracts from the scenery outside. Simple elegance with nuance, each part working toward a whole, as though the shaft, stock, silk and husk of the corn. Musically, there are reminders to pack your harmonica for the next campfire and to throw your guitar in the back seat for when you venture off the road to sit idle in a fallow field. Lyrically, there are truisms that might seem platitude coming from a less skilled pen and mouth.

This seven inch goes a long way towards stacking up to the duo’s sometimes hushing, sometimes romping, entirely blissful set at Walter’s last month. Exist, for example, is no contest one of the best songs to come out of the city this year. The fact that a recording in which no fault can be found but yet still doesn’t quite measure up to them on the stage has us entirely in the sun about their full length, due out next year. Recommended.

The Papermoon’s next show is at the Skyline Network-approved HOOTENANNY!, January 5th, where they’ll be playing as Pedro the Lion.

Stream: Papermoons - Various Tracks