So the amazing news reporter Charolette Helston wrote some pretty kind words about The News. Its a pretty big honor to be compared to the styles of Mr. Dylan and Bo Diddley. Paperboy’s delivering something to get excited about By Charlotte Helston Find some vacant floor space, because it goes fast when Paperboy is in the house. Sitting in one of the Okanagan band’s frequented venues—cafés and nightclubs dotted throughout the Interior—it’s hard to resist tapping foot or finger to their roving tunes, so get up and dance. Singer/ songwriter/ lead guitarist Luke Mortenson and drummer Cameron Lutz are visibly thrilled to be following in the steps of their teenage idols—Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, Jack White to name a few. Thanking the audience for coming out, dancing, and singing along is part of their old school, throwback 50s charm. These guys have been playing gigs for years and are as down to earth, fun and candid on stage as they are at a backyard shindig. They sweat enthusiasm, something that makes for an electrifying show and equally engaging album. Hot off the press is their sophomore album The News, featuring eight original songs that’ll knock you off your seat and onto your feet. Mortenson’s molten vocals bring depth to the group’s sound, especially in songs like El Scorpiones and Voices. There’s a craft to their songs, a playfulness, that hooks your attention. You’ll notice echoes of Buddy Holly and Carlos Santana—maybe some relics of Mortenson’s former life as a jazz musician—but their sound is something entirely new and not easily forgotten. There’s a creative quality and freshness to the soft and suddenly booming vocals, the drum beat that steadily creeps and then lets loose. Paperboy displays the same eagerness to roll around in sound as a dog does in scent. Check out Somebody Call the Fire Department for a roller coaster of rock and roll soul. The song is laden with catchy hooks and a slick 50s rock breakdown. Like the rest of Paperboy’s music, the lyrics provide a needed refreshment from pop songs littered with bad rhymes and worse clichés. There’s a poetry coursing through the lines, some of it startlingly beautiful and reminiscent of Bob Dylan. Paperboy’s debut album First Week on the Job foreshadowed good things to come, but lacked the polish of The News. Since that first album, Paperboy has really come into their own, found their sound and risen to a stunning level of professionalism. Watch the eye contact between Mortenson and Lutz in a live show and you’ll marvel at how attentive they are to one another. Precision carries through each strummed chord, tap on the drum, flourish of maraca, and belted out note. Drive and ambition recently earned them a grant through Telus’ Summer Music Video Fund, enabling them to film their first music video. The final product weaves their song El Scorpiones with the talented visuals of filmmaker Lee Watkins. Paperboy may be just a babe in the grand scheme of their musical career, but if these formative years are any indication of what’s to come, expect to see, and most importantly hear, a lot more of them.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 00:58:24 +0000
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