Voice

Description

Voice is the debut album by the American alternative rock/metal trio Paupers Field, released on Cling Recordings in 1997. The album was recorded and mixed between 6-5-96 and 3-6-97 by Mike Roche and band member Mike Keith at Broadside Productions in Kalamazoo, Michigan; with Roche and the band producing.

Paupers Field features Mike Keith on lead and backing vocals as well as electric and upright bass; John Grafton on acoustic and electric guitars as well as backing vocals; and Shawn Rainer on acoustic drums and backing vocals.

Don’t ever make the mistake of judging an album on the first listen. You could miss out on something really cool, as I almost did with Paupers Field. The first run-through left me with a vague impression of some Dig Hay Zoose/Hot Pink Turtle-style funk alterna-metal. Then I put on the headphones and actually paid attention… and soon realized this was a very creative and fresh album, reaching far beyond such comparisons. Cling Recordings claims to be the “home of ugly Christian music,” but Voice doesn’t fit that bill at all.

The project begins with the eerie “Ohhhmmmming” of Buddhist monks overtop a man crying “Help me,” followed by a creepy voice sample which says: “We makes the first riddle….” Then the funk metal drops in, kicking a vibe like some Scaterd Few/Dig Hay Zoose hybrid, with buoyant basslines reminiscent of Dodavahu. The vocalist sings:

Small. Shriveled. Lonely. Aching
Empty. Lost. Betrayed and Searching
Living in a void that never ends
Stronger every day – it never goes away
I try to bat the dark away with my hands

Never fear, though, for the song comes full circle by the end:

Behold a brand new day the emptiness
has gone away Forever
I am not a Slave!!!!

This progression from darkness and emptiness to LIFE seems to pop up often in the album’s lyrics, which provides for varying moods.

The funk straightens out into slamming power rock a lot on Voice, and there is a surprising variety of charismatic vocals, from various styles of singing to gang shouts (all three members help out on vocals). Brief moments remind me of Mark Salomon (Stavesacre) and Chris Scott (Precious Death, Blackball). The bass tones and drumming change up some as well, and everywhere you look there are skillful touches spicing up the songs. Unfortunately, the low-budget production might make much of it easy to miss.

That’s one downer about the album… Paupers Field doesn’t have the best production. They make do admirably with what they’ve got, however, and anyone used to indie bands in general won’t be complaining. In a perfect world where big studio budgets and top-notch producers are available to all, Paupers Field would probably sound brilliant. As it is now, they just sound like the smart kid in the corner of the class.

Track seven («Radium») is mystifying and relaxing, with very melodic, reverberating bass and whale-sound guitars (!) accompanied by the echoing, nonsensical talking of a child at play. The voice of the child is actually a 20 year-old recording of one of the band member’s wives! As she sings “I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy… you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy TOO!,” the driving alternative riffing with slap-bass explodes into motion, and a more normal song is born. Good stuff.

The latter half of the album follows the same groove as the first, mixing and matching styles while maintaining a distinct, cohesive sound. «Wall of Lies» is one of my favorites, with a rockin’ riff and big pounding on the skins, and a weird harmonic vocal chorus and deep, grainy spoken word part near the end. «Farewell My Friends» seems startlingly out of place, a totally acappella song with male and female vocals singing in what sounds like a large empty room:

Farewell my friends I’m bound for Canaan
I’m travelling through the wilderness…
I go away behind to leave you
Perhaps never to meet again
But if we ever have the pleasure
I hope we’ll meet on Canaan’s land

It’s a beautiful, moving piece, and evidence of the potential this band has for variety. But it is a little unexpected when placed with the rest of the album.

Voice breathes its last with «Touch», an epic 11-minute song that explores flowing, mellow melodies and surging, droning distortion, with the complete range of vocals guiding you along. The lengthy and meandering nature of it reminds me of late 60s/early 70s psychedelic rock, which I dig. More songs like «Touch», guys.

Fans of Scaterd Few, Dig Hay Zoose, and Hot Pink Turtle will get into this, although Paupers Field is far less funky and flamboyant than those outfits. And so I highly recommend them to anyone used to indie production and looking for something genuinely creative and exploratory. They aren’t great yet, but they’re awkwardly feeling their way in that direction. [Josh Spencer, The Phantom Tollbooth, 1998]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/voice/1738568775)

CD tracklist:

01. Empty
02. Rocket To Nowhere
03. In The Rye
04. Never
05. Black
06. Radium
07. She
08. Wall Of Lies
09. Farewell My Friends
10. Touch