The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel

猫ジャケ×初期プライマル・スクリーム×イースト・ヴィレッジ系譜=爽快青春ジャングリー・ポップ!SLUMBERLAND看板大成長の2ND!

2021年、セルフタイトルのデビュー作がスマッシュヒットを記録。新たなジャングリー / インディ・ポップ マスターとなりそうな風格を出してきたアンディ・パスタラニエック率いるサンフランシスコ拠点チャイム・スクール。シーブライトのドラマーとしても動く中制作された、待望の2NDフルアルバム『THE BOY WHO RAN THE PAISLEY』はさらに成長した音を堪能出来る、甘酸っぱいブチアゲ盤!

先行シングル"GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY"がお馴染みバーズや初期プライマル・スクリームを軸にイースト・ヴィレッジ、ゴー・ビトウィーンズといったジャングリー / インディ・ポップの優美さやメランコリーを奏でた伝説を参考に、アンディ持ち前のポップさが際立つ内容に。バンドが大きく前進した豊かなアレンジは、UKインディラヴァー全員を虜にするはず!

猫ジャケット、SLUMBERLANDからリリースというインディ好きならここでも号泣必至な本作、ハンカチと青春の日々をお供に聴いて!

Storied indie songwriter/musician Andy Pastalaniec debuted his project Chime School with a self-titled album in 2021, offering new contributions to a lineage of jangly beauty that could be traced backwards to the Sea Urchins, Big Star, the Byrds, the Beatles, and beyond. His second album, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, is a little bit heftier and more immediate than its predecessor. Pastalaniecs melodic sensibilities are the same, with vocal lines that sometimes recall the earliest surfacings of 90s Britpop (see the Oasis-y vocal inflections on the mostly acoustic tune "Words You Say") and sometimes reach back further to bring to mind Teenage Fanclub or Primal Scream in their youngest, noise-pop days. Also intact is Chime Schools patented jangle, with armies of electric and acoustic 12-string guitars guiding many of the songs here. The peppy "Wandering Song" is full-tilt jangle, with the brightness on every vocal track and instrument turned up all the way. "Give Your Heart Away" is much the same, bringing in a mod-pop organ to support a catchy tune thats one part Shop Assistants, one part the Jam. Pastalaniecs songwriting is energetic and melancholic, and the production throughout Paisley Hotel matches this robust energy in a way that was lacking on the debut. Where Chime Schools 2021 effort was somewhat muted by lo-fi production and static drum machines, the songs jump out of the grooves here. Even slightly slower tracks like "Negative Monday" feel alive with the same dour charm the Smiths or the Las were so comfortable wallowing in. The album improves on the already strong start Chime School made with their earlier material, writing another wonderful chapter in the endless book of sad-hearted yet uplifting indie pop. ~ Fred Thomas