Paper Rival

Nashville's Paper Rival aren't your average rock band. Their first full-length offering, Dialog, fits somewhere between the grunge guitar fireworks of Smashing Pumpkins' classic Siamese Dream and the emo mastery of Sunny Day Real Estate's debut, Diary. In other words, it's undeniable rock with a soft core. Sweeping vocal melodies clamp to soft, fuzzy distortion, and Paper Rival channel the early '90s with much success. However, at the same time, the album's production has a digital sheen that keeps the sound extremely fresh and "now." Album opener "Are We Brothers?," morphs from a slow, syncopated riff to a hypnotic, clean melody. The band maintains a fluid, loud-soft dynamic on the track, and it makes for the perfect opener.

Meanwhile, on "Foreign Film Collection," a tingly guitar intro perfectly complements singer Jake Rolleston's soft croon. Then there's a highly hummable hook mid-song. The song mashes instrumental bombast and lyrical vulnerability making for a palatable, emotional tune. "Swimmer King" oozes summer rock whimsy with a poppy chorus and windy lead guitar lines. "Bluebird" has an entrancing, finger-picked intro that gives the song a classic rock feel. A soft, droney echo makes "An Easy Belief" quite easy to love, especially once the vocals take hold.

In the end, Paper Rival have got space rock down to a science, and this Dialog is well worth having.

—Rick Florino
07.07.08