Papertrigger "Riot Lovers"
By Ryan Harig
Wednesday. Jan 16, 10:24 AM
The music of barroom brawls and late night booty calls.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact feeling that is invoked by the depths of the madness that is Riot Lovers. You, my fellow reader, simply have to hear it: that I am sure of. This is perfect drunken indie boy music, full of the old and new, filthy and beautiful in one breath. A solid piece of mess that you can’t help but keep coming back to. It’s really something special and an excited secret you wish to keep from everyone, but by the end of the night the whole bar knows. It’s great music from a band that is probably going to take off soon.

Upon ingesting Riot Lovers the first time, I was not too keen on what I heard. Opener "We Are Nations Now," a loud and galloping bundle of loose piano and Tom Waits croons, was not the kind of state I had been expecting to be put in or wanting to fall into. But like all things new and original, you are lured in by its majesty slowly and surely until it becomes what you wanted. This happens a lot on this record, and by the time that you fall into its spell, the EP is almost over and you want to hear it again.

There are huge highlights on each track, namely the piano work and the soft, gentle vocals that are genuinely great and fit the music perfectly. There's this glowing bit of melancholy that seeps throughout the whole EP that really gives it charisma and character. Songs like "Fox Hunting," "The Inner Party," and the epic and sprawling "Sidereal" make Riot Lovers almost hypnotic. There are a lot of other words I could use to describe what I am talking about, but the truth is you just have to hear it to feel what I am saying.

Philadelphia should be proud to have such an outstanding talent in its arsenal. It’s really the excitement of what I hear on this EP that makes me want to drive my curious ass to PA and see Papertrigger play this music live. Preferably in a loud, smoke-filled, old fashioned bar with a warm shot of whiskey in my belly and carnival of fists flying to the music. Highly recommended.
www.papertrigger.com

Ryan Harig

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