DOWNLOADS: Paper Arrows
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PRESS: PAPER ARROWS
Janine Schaults, Illinois Entertainer
The debut album from Paper Arrows, Look Alive, swoops in and hits the pause button on racing pulses. The trio crafts somber melodies that would make Adam Duritz proud. Joe Goodkin's vocals even slightly resemble the Counting Crows frontman. While Duritz sings about Maria in every song, the gal Goodkin pines for in these 10 tracks is up for grabs. Along with bassist Jay Marino and drummer Darren Garvey, Goodkin is a formidable bundle of angst. "Why I Had To Fall" pays homage to The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" while "When You Left" owes a debt, strangely enough, to Vince
Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here."
Chicago Tribune Red Eye
Did rock superstars Radiohead steal local band Paper Arrows' idea?
When local indie outfit Paper Arrows recently finished recording its album "Look Alive," the band was eager to let people hear it.
"I really wanted feedback on it," vocalist Joe Goodkin said, "and the fastest, cheapest way to get it was by e-mailing mp3s."
Within hours of walking out of the recording studio, Goodkin had e-mailed his group's new music to several people.
"That process was so easy and instantly rewarding, we though that we could expand it in scope and spread the word about the band through some viral marketing," he said.
Paper Arrows, including bassist Jay Marino and drummer Darren Garvey, decided to release "Look Alive's" title track as a single via e-mail too.
Anyone can have the single for free, Goodkin said, as long as they join Paper Arrows' mailing list and forward an e-mail about the song to a few friends.
"I had no idea what to expect, but it was a huge success," he said. "The song made its way to England, Italy, Russia, as well as all over the U.S."
This alternate approach to releasing new music isn't entirely different from Radiohead's online album release, in which fans were able to download the group's entire "In Rainbows" record for whatever cost they felt was reasonable. Goodkin was happy to see the gamble pay off for Radiohead, even if, he joked, "They stole our idea and got all the press!"
Joking aside, Goodkin thinks more and more bands will begin using alternate methods of releasing their music.
"The bottom line is that more music in more people's hands eventually leads to more exposure for a band," he said. "I don't care what Lars Ulrich [of Metallica] says."
Pioneer Press
This promising composer and musician, who lives in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood, is the creative force behind Paper Arrows, a new band that will hold an all-ages CD release party March 2 at Schubas in Chicago.
Goodkin, the lead singer and guitarist for Paper Arrows, wrote all the music and lyrics for "Look Alive," a heartfelt and contemplative collection of 10 original songs released by Quell Records.
The theme
"It wasn't until I had all the songs next to each other that I really saw there was this common theme of loss running through them all," said Goodkin, a 1995 graduate of Oak Park-River Forest High School.
"Look Alive" features Jay Marino on bass, mandolin, guitar and vocals and Darren Garvey on drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, banjo, glockenspiel, ocean harp and vocals.
"We put these songs together in the studio, just the three of us. Our drummer Darren plays just about any instrument you put in front of him, which is very helpful in the studio and Jay served as the producer for the recording sessions," said Goodkin.
"When we decided to do a live release show, we decided to expand a little bit, so we will be a five piece group for this show. And it will be the first time the five of us have ever played together in front of people."
Goodkin promises a free CD for all those that order their tickets in advance for the CD release party.
"We will do the entire album. Some songs will be different arrangements," he said. "We will also do a couple of covers and take a shot at a couple of new tunes that haven't been recorded yet. We will keep the vibe kind of loose and see what happens."
For the release party, the core members of Paper Arrows will be joined by Drew Scalericio of Chicago on piano and keyboards and Anthony Burton of Oak Park on bass.
"Another thing that was great about putting this band together was that I got to call people that I always wanted to play music with but never got a chance," Goodkin said. "Anthony and I go back to high school days. We worked at a couple of performing arts summer camps together but we only played together informally in jam sessions."
Lost time
While still in high school, Goodkin had his first shot at being part of a record deal when a grunge band he was in called Rainwalk received some interest from a local label associated with a major label.
"Then the local label folded the day they were going to give us the money to into the studio and record. When you are 16 and that happens, first you don't realize how rare that is, and then you are heartbroken because you thought you were going into a big studio to record."
Mindful of that harsh lesson, Goodkin decided to take his time in bringing "Look Alive" to the attention of the public.
"This disc was finished about a year ago. I sat on it for a little while because it was fresh and raw. I spent five or six months getting it out to people I knew in the music business to see what people thought of it. The feedback was good and after six months I still liked it, so I decided to put it out myself."
Goodkin launched his own label Quell Records to coincide with the debut of Paper Arrows.
"Having your own label lends legitimacy to the project. If this goes well I would like to sign other bands," he said.
Among the new projects under consideration are a second Paper Arrows CD and a recording of Goodkin's version of Homer's "The Odyssey," a one-man folk opera which he performed from 2002-2006 at area high schools, including his alma mater.
"It is a really demanding piece and every time I come back to it I change it a little bit. It is 24 individual songs performed back-to-back in 35 minutes, just me and an acoustic guitar," he said.
Indie Music Chicago
There was a respectable crowd for the debut CD release of the Paper Arrows' Look Alive, an all-ages group that ranged from (I am guessing) around three to sixty years old. The crowd density was loose enough that you could move comfortably about the room (the small children chasing each other around the room certainly had no problems), but it was still a robust, enthusiastic group of fans supporting the Paper Arrowsı big night. The audience interacted with the band and vice versa.
THE MUSIC
The Set List
"Look Alive," the albumıs title track, was also the opening song of Paper Arrows' set. The instrumentation and vocals were very nice, with an uplifting feel. The lyrics were a bit trite for my taste ("Look alive. The lights are shining, in your eyes, and the way is clear For you to see that love can cure thisthe miseryand wipe away your tears. But it all comes down to you."). The band showed that they are gifted musicians who can play well in an ensemble, but lead singer and songwriter Joe Goodkin did not show off his poeticism just yet. This was a safe song, unlikely to garner much criticism or praise. It left me hoping for more.
Paper Arrows followed with "Why I Had to Fall," a folksy ballad with rich guitar and backup vocals and a lyrical mandolin, played beautifully by backup guitarist and album producer, Jay Marino. The lyrics in this piece were much more heartfelt, expressing optimism and redemption in the face of discontent and hypocrisy.
"Turn" was a happy-go-lucky song with widespread appeal. Like the first song, the lyrics were relatively simplistic (Refrain: "I wonıt turn my back on love."), but they are appropriate to the jovial beat and tune. This piece again reinforced that Paper Arrows is a polished band, both instrumentally and vocally.
"Again and Again" was performed as an acoustic solo by Joe Goodkin on Look Alive, but the band chose to play it full ensemble for the show. It was a beautiful adaptation. Having heard both the live ensemble performance and the acoustic version on the album, I am very impressed with how nicely it worked with the whole band. This was the first big chance for Darren Garvey to show that he was not just a typical "drummer," but a full-fledged percussionist. While characteristically simple, the lyrics in this song were very poetic, singing of new beginnings between two weary lovers. Goodkin's voice was rich and showed great control and expressiveness.
"Skeletonskinandsky" finally showed Goodkin's poetic potential. It was a beautiful song about the struggle to pull out of daily monotony and hold onto our deepest passions. Goodkin reached into his upper register to serenade the audience about his passion for writing music.
Goodkin told the audience that he wanted to perform their next songa cover of Led Zeppelin's "Hey Hey What can I do?"so that he could sing the lyrics "I gotta woman, wanna ball all day" in front of his mother. That got a good laugh from the audience. The band gave a very entertaining rendition of the classic Zeppelin tune and at the end, Goodkin announced, "Update: My mother is shocked!"
Next, Goodkin said that he "wanted to take things from ridiculous to sublime" and performed "December Static." The band delivered on their promise of sublime, with a haunting song about breakup and regret. Again, Darren Garvey shined with his nuanced use of the percussion and the entire ensemble slowly built to an ethereal climax that carried through the latter half of the song.
"Travesty in Blue" had a very Counting Crows sound. I am not quite sure what it is about other than a storm over Lake Michigan, but it was a nice piece.
"Fight" was another song Paper Arrows performed with the full ensemble, even though it was an acoustic track on the album. Again, the full ensemble integrated seamlessly and added a lot of depth to the song. Percussion and keyboards were very effective in the live adaptation.
"Come Home" was a powerful song where Goodkin strained his voice for an expressive effect, choosing raw emotion over depth of timbre. Backup vocals were particularly well-executed in this piece, echoing the lead singerıs pain in the loss of a companion.
"When You Left" was the only song that the band left as a solo acoustic piece for this performance. It was an appropriate choice. Joe Goodkin seemed to channel Rufus Wainwright with a pure upper register, complete with sorrowfully drawn-out phrasing and perfectly controlled vibrato. The song was barely a minute and a half long, saying all it needed to say, ending with the words "I canıt believe you're gone."
Paper Arrows ended their show with a cover of Bob Dylan's classic "I Shall Be Released." The band went out showing off what great performers they really are. The backup guitarist, Jay Marino, wailed on a 12-string for an amazing solo. They took on the song with their own style and did an excellent job of it. Prior to recognizing the song as a Bob Dylan cover, I noted that Goodkin sounded remarkably like Jakob Dylan (Bob's son, lead singer of The Wallflowers), which is indicative of how the rendition was both contemporary and authentic. The crowd, including myself, thoroughly appreciated it.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was an excellent show. Paper Arrows clearly enjoyed every second of their performance, but still took their music very seriously. Every member of the band was remarkably talented and they played together flawlessly. At the end of the performance, the band members mingled with the crowd. Schubas' staff gave out free copies of Look Alive to everyone who came to the release show. I will certainly listen to my copy frequently and look forward to going to their shows and (hopefully) more album releases in the future.