The Paper Chase – What Should We Do With Your Body (The Lightning)

Ah, the curse of indie band name dissonance strikes again.

The Paper Chase (or “the pAper chAse” for whatever wacky reason makes bands do this) are not, in fact, a winsome twee-pop group but instead turn out to be a Texan experimental rock group. This is hardly surprising given that they are signed to Southern Records, set up by a member of Crass and heavily connected to Dischord. ‘What Should We Do With Your Body (The Lightning)’ – I’ll let that missing question mark go for now – is presumably taken off the band’s alledged forthcoming double album about natural disasters, as it starts with an emergency broadcast test and features singer John Congleton repeating the line “what shall we do with the bodies?” in a slightly disconcerting fashion.

The song itself is an excellent, rollicking noise-punk fest, all theatrical piano and twisted guitar lines, that feels like it’s going to fall apart at several places during it’s six minute run-time, that is, until its mellow, almost resigned ending part in which strings mournfully drone in the background. It’s slightly reminiscent in ambition and bombast to long-running British prog collective Cardiacs, and certainly none the worse for it. All in all, a highly inventive tour de force which makes me think that The Paper Chase are a band I should have investigated a lot sooner.