Riding Paper Airplanes – S/T / 2006 New Wine Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.ridingpaperairplanes.com / http://www.newwinerecords.com / Reviewed 12 November 2006

What Riding paper Airplanes do with their “Homecoming Weekend in a Small Town” is place themselves alongside acts like Fischerspooner and The Postal Service. This means that there is a high amount of electronic sequencing tied to a set of dreamy vocals, with a healthy chunk of pop influence strewn in. This results in something that is linked to the ambient genre, but also to an indie tradition that was most recently pandered to by the latest Death Cab For Cutie album. Where the introduction to a number of the tracks on this self-titled album may sound standoffish and unwilling to be assimilated, the resulting arrangements are masterful works of diplomacy.

This means that the crooning vocal style of a “I Thirst For You” can use sequenced percussion and swirling electronic, synthesizer-like lines to create a track. Even though the tracks all come from different agglomerations of styles, Riding Paper Airplanes are successful in creating an album that is catchy while not losing out on the essence of what the band exactly is. “Feathers” moves Riding Paper Airplanes’ style into something that is definitely heavy on the eighties influence, as the crooning of the vocals has parallels in both Morrissey and Depeche Mode.

The hard line of the synth during this track provides the perfect thing to offset the much less tangible and ghostly vocals of the lead singer. Riding Paper Airplanes really reach their plateau with “Feathers”, as the vocals break free of their ghostly chains and interact with the rest of the instrumentation in ways that are very different than the way that they did at the beginning of the track. The earliest thing that is infuriating about Riding Paper Airplanes is the track “God is Light”. There are vocals in what I presume to be Japanese, and there is no [place in te liner notes to this album where what is being said is translated. Since the vocals are such a major part of this track, I would have liked to known what is being said. Still, Riding Paper Airplanes is an act that is providing individuals with an album in a genre that has not had an album released in it for a few years. By updating this genre, Riding Paper Airplanes is able to claim it as their own. The output on this album is solid enough that individuals that may not have heard the genre before-hands will surely think that Riding Paper Airplanes created it.

Top Tracks: I Thirst For You, Feathers

Rating: 6.0/10

[JMcQ]