Reviewing The Paperheads, or is it just Paperheads now [?], is a rather iffy and touchy affair, as the band are loved by many, leaving the question to be asked, ”Why are people so drawn to Paperhead?”Certainly they’re not one of those bands one wants to criticize, because fundamentally their music is interesting, but using words such as ‘impeccable’ is a rather bold statement. So with that in mind, please allow me to review all of the Paperhead albums here, as for me, their discography is sketchy, leaving but a single album’s worth of solid material in my hands. I’m fully aware that when they laid down their first tracks that they were mere children [young adults], but that’s not an excuse, it’s a fact, and if one is going to venture into the great unknown, one had better be prepared. The Paperheads prepared themselves by eagerly scarfing down huge does of The Kinks, Syd Barrett’s years with Pink Floyd ah-la “Arnold Layne,” and “See Emily Play,” along with Krautrock rhythms, Pretty Things, AM radio friendly takes on Spacemen 3, their namesake July, and pop infused punk, all while making sweeping gestures of immediacy, laced with pop laden hooks and quirkiness. And I must also ask, ”Is quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness a reason to record anything, especially if it’s been done before, and if I may, has fallen out of fashion, save for a few diehard fans who revel in the atmosphere. Yet with that being said, there are those who would stamp their feet, insisting that Paperhead are not derivative, or beholden to a past that they have assimilated wholeheartedly.Of course at this point I deeply want to excuse the band, and attribute all of this to youthful exuberance … but the point is, they ventured down this road with eyes wide open, leaving me to ponder the reason for this assimilation of ideas and values that do not belong to them. First I would suggest that perhaps they have embraced too much, as making an attempt to be all encompassing, to being all things to all people, which is a sure fire blueprint for not so much failure, but for being thought of as unoriginal, as uninspired, meaning that they’re just one more of so much that’s out there.Now, if you take the time to overlook two thirds of their material, and concentrate on that which is first rate, original, and slightly more challenging, Paperhead achieve success … yet by accepting that premise, one then must wonder who’s guiding this ship, because asking fans to consider four albums, yet only walking away with an album’s worth of material, is not an investment I’m willing to make.At their best, what the Paperheads do is to comfortably engage their audience with flowing bits of melodies we half remember, breathing new life into these ideas drawn from notes and ideas that are nearly part of our musical DNA at this point, instantly causing us to perk up, as if a friendly ghost has just walked though the room.If one descriptive phrase resounds with the Paperheads, its the line ‘they sound like’ this, or they sound like that, or they sound like a band who’s played live for years, or that they sound organic. I suppose what makes me most uncomfortable is that this is not music from or of the 60’s, this is music of the here and now, and rightly so … so much so, that the Paperheads should mark their spot on the musical map and own it, and not strive to be something from another time and place.So I’ll repeat … there is an effortless grace to a number of their performances and arrangements, so I’m keeping those and burn them to a disc, caring not that I’m leaving the rest of their material behind.*** The Fun Facts: The Paperheads take their name from the psychedelic single “My Clown” by the mid 60’s band July.Review by Jenell Kesler