Paulson – All At Once

Paulson – All At Once / 2005 One Day Savior / 10 Tracks / http://www.paulsonisaband.com / http://www.onedaysavior.com / Reviewed 28 December 2005

The band comes through with a tender appreciation of emotion, a desire to unity softness with a hidden intensity and wonderful arrangements that will keep individuals listening in. There seems to be a mixture of the traditional (read: mid-nineties) brand of emo with the same emotive instrumentation that so often is turned into an ever-present set of synthesizers (Postal Service, Fischerspooner). The instrumentation goes far beyond interesting arrangements and shows Paulson as on the top of their game; the intensity of “Miami Current” is created through an amazing amount of layers. In a sense, Paulson sounds on this track like what one would think a “Miami Current” would sound like. The most interesting thing about “All At Once” is that Paulson uses the least possible instrumentation to create a full sound; a song like “Not By A Long Shot” relies heavily on non-traditional instrumentation (vocals) to emotionally affect individuals.

Furthermore, Paulson seems to bridge the gap between rock and emo with their very Incubus-sounding “Voids”; the track couples that very safe rock sound with a little of early-Cure induced edginess. The first real hit that Paulson creates with “All At Once” is their multiple-harmonied “Under Crowns”; the slightly-nased output of the track is compelling enough to endear Paulson to new listeners even at this early point on “All At Once”. While a track like “Window Frames” seems to be sedate and calm, there is a bass line that is very tempestuous and driven during this track; this is coupled with an almost-System of a Down sounding set of vocals to allow Paulson to again shift their influences slightly to come up with something completely new and relatively fresh.

The band continues this brooding sound (bass-strong) into “Programs”, creating a sense of unity that is dstrong enough to make listeners understand that these tracks came from the same album but is not too overbearing to make it seem as if the band is trying to cut the same song twice in a row. “I Knew You When”, the penultimate track on “All At Once”, has a shuffling dance beat that is layered around a set of vocals that will elicit all forms of longing. Paulson has came a long way since “Variations”, while still a long way to go, the band seems to have the skills to continually increase their stock.

Top Tracks: Programs, All At Once

Rating: 6.8/10

[JMcQ]