Paul Newman - Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package! Re-evaluate the Songs
(My Pal God)
Paul Newman is a post-rock band for people who like post-rock bands.
That is not to say they are theirs is the ultimate post-rock experience,
but rather that Paul Newman is playing to those people who love
post-rock, showing all the aspects that make it great and calling out
all the styles, from metal to techno to drone, that came before it
and contributed to it. If you are a true fan of post-rock, not a
hanger-on or half-interested bystander, Paul Newman will definitely
appeal to you.
Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package! Re-evaluate the Songs compiles
all the tracks Paul Newman has released on singles, EPs, and other
compilations, and it is a mighty fine
compilation, worthy of the word "album" instead of "odds" or "sods."
In Paul Newman's current predicament, what Temporary
Residence calls "geographically challenged," one would not expect
the band to have many extra tracks with the few and far between
recording sessions/sleepovers. However just a few years ago, before
Trance Syndicate imploded, Paul Newman was releasing music at a frantic
pace, most of it really good, as this album documents.
With only one unreleased track, it's natural to go straight to that
track to see whether this album is money well spent, and based on
that track alone, the answer would be a resounding "no." "Were Those
Ever Cowboy Boots" is three and a half minutes of monotonous drumming,
both live and programmed, that swells in volume--a failed experiment
at drum-n-bass.
It is these experiments and style-call-outs that give Paul Newman
their personality, for better or worse. However, the band knows
how much of this sort of thing they can get away with, and always
cut themselves off before the listener becomes convinced Paul Newman
no longer realizes which style is the facade. On "Beeline to Mamou,"
Paul Newman takes another trip into the territory of death metal,
which can easily become grating, but by keeping the song to a
reasonable length, the band is able to present the humor of the style
without letting the strained-vocals and crunchy guitars overstay their
welcome.
While the experiments in style give Paul Newman their
personality, it is the true post-rock songs, with Paul Newman's great riffs
and use of rhythms, that makes Paul Newman worth listening to. "All
Black All Anal" starts off sounding soft and delicate with small,
gradual builds before transferring to a more aggressive and
complex riff, using a harsher, piercing guitar tone. I'm not sure
what this has to do with the song's title, but I'm not sure I want to
know. The song "Grady No. 101" wouldn't sound out of place on a Dianogah record
with its bubbling bass and fast, fluctuating riff. "I Know My Luck
Too Well" is an epic song and a demonstration of great restraint from
the band. As a result, the song is very pretty and calming, a perfect
song for the drive home or the end of the day.
Word is the band may soon reunite in New York City, no longer being
"geographically challenged." Hopefully they will, as their songs from
when the band was whole, as on this compilation, are much better than
their more recent material.
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