It begins with distorted sound reminiscent of static — the prelude to images appearing on an old fashion television screen. Lasting the length of a typical television show, Green Paper’s recently released CD “Fire” is an experience — explicitly giving voice to the everyday.
TCNJ’s own lead singer/guitarist Tomm Hart and bassist Michael Mendonez, together with guitarist Jeff Lane and drummer Natalie Newbold make up the Central Jersey-based band. Released Feb. 12, “Fire” is the first in a series of five concept albums.
The
concept of “Fire,” according to Hart, revolves around the idea of the objective correlative, a term first introduced by T.S. Eliot that refers to communicating emotions via symbolism, evoking the internal through external means. (HC handy translation – Stuck on the objective correlative reference? Think Wilson the volleyball in Cast Away. Tom Hanks’ character imbued this inanimate object with emotional significance as it came to represent companionship, even friendship.)
This album series employs the Tao elements of fire, metal, earth, water and wood. Something as simple as coffee can convey feelings of disconnect (“Folgers”), a room, all things unattainable (“Summer”). Hart said that the album not only employs this idea but also operates through “identity by opposites.”
“Each element is less related to a specific emotion than all of these related characteristics and consequences specific to the element,” Hart said. “Fire isn’t just consumption, decay and self-image issues. It’s the flipside- love, desire, the driving progress of everything.”
There’s no easy way to categorize Green Paper, though the band self-identifies as “television rock music.” Distortion, slightly psychedelic and grungy undertones, eerie harmonies and addicting guitar riffs in “Fire,” are just a few elements comprising the whole.
Despite the catchiness of songs like “April 27, 2004” and “Silver Linings,” they are imbued with haunting themes of relationships and self-examination, stressed by the recurring echo of the satirical: “My self-esteem is growing daily.”
A sense of isolation is expressed throughout the album, though, perhaps most poignantly in “Carthage” in the line, “But in a way we all change and it feels so strange to be ourselves. And if we try at all to fight we find the loneliest nights, our private hells.”
The
emotionally charged lyrics and vocals embody typical, everyday experiences unconventionally, de-familiarizing the familiar in a way that captures the emotion exactly. True to the album’s spirit of opposites, songs transition seamlessly on“Fire,” but at the same time seem disjointed, connected, but entirely independent. This grants the album more edge than fluidity; a quality Hart said will be reversed in “Water.”
What are you waiting for? Check out “Fire” at greenpaper.bandcamp.com.
Photo Credits: http://www.facebook.com/greenpapermusic