Paper Arrows

With its debut record Look Alive just a year old, Chicago's Paper Arrows is back with a second full-length, Things We Would Rather Lose, which will be released by Quell Records on April 7, 2009.

In contrast to the quiet loss-laced and winter-inspired Look Alive, Things We Would Rather Lose features a robust, diverse sound, which was captured at I.V. Lab Studios and Gravity Studios in Chicago by producer Jay Marino, and mixed by Manny Sanchez (The Uglysuit, Zwan, The Hush Sound).

Joe Goodkin's poetic lyrics consider the process of recovery and reclamation, from the question posed in the first line of the distortion-filled opener More ("Can you leave the ghost behind?"), to the resolution of the album's closer, the horn-colored Explosions Below ("I'm turning the page on the last piece of love that she gave me.")

In between, the band bounces seamlessly from the straight-ahead rock of One More Quiet Song to the folk gospel of Til I Couldn't Cry, and from the pulsating disco beat of Crystal to the slow building drama of Skyscraper Hearts.

Says Goodkin "We really had no pre-conceived notions of what we wanted to do with any of the 9 songs we wound up recording [out of a collection of 25 written since Look Alive was released], and that freed us up to use a variety of instruments and sounds. I really like the idea that what holds the album together is the lyrics, and that the different sounds and styles emulate and convey the complex process of recovering from loss."

Joe Goodkin (vocals, guitar)
Jay Marino (bass, vocals)
Darren Garvey (drums, organ)

Management Contact

Agent: Paul Farahvar, Esq., Shoeshine Boy Productions