I’ve listened to it here, alone at my desk studying the lyrics, while cooking supper, et cetera, hoping to crack into it somehow. Hoping that suddenly I’ll understand exactly what they mean by “the mustard” and simultaneously be enlightened on topics like music theory. I will walk back home after this beer. I will make a serious attempt at it. She switches machines again. It looks for just a moment like she is winning this time. “Gimme painless / or bring me death” concludes Langer as he stitches me back up.

Paper Tyger is an indie rock band composed of Aidan Langer (vocals, guitar, mixing and mastering), Myles Alexander (lead guitar), Luke Kelly (bass), and Matthew Kennedy (drums). ep 1 marks the beginning of their foray into what they call “serious music.” Paper Tyger has a comic book superhero themed alter-ego called Rogues Gallery. This includes two projects created for the RPM Challenge 2023 and 2024. These projects were made as a lighthearted way to get through the month-long challenge to record an Album, EP, or single in the month of February. As much fun as these projects were, Paper Tyger is now looking to grow past that. This 4-track EP is a teaser for their upcoming and currently untitled debut album.

The EP begins pared down with the track “you will suffer what you leave behind.” Just a few repeated notes to lull you into a mid-mortem or post-mortem relationship before building and layering the track into a musical and emotional climax. “Is the magic gone?” asks Langer to start, lamenting about “the flicking, passing game” that the speaker’s relationship has become. Then the chorus pleads “take it take it take it all” because “you will suffer what you leave behind.”

The next track, “idling,” continues in this theme of troubled relationships. This time, less mortem and more confusing angst caught between idle indecision, jealousy, and the fear of being forgotten. The song opens “ain’t it supposed to mean something? / I say I want it, but I don’t want it.” Whether this “it” is sex, the relationship itself, or something else entirely is ambiguous. But this indecision runs contrary to the sentiment of the chorus where he sings “I can’t sit idling / watching you watching him.” Despite the lyrical content, sonically it is hypnotic and danceable which creates a poetic discordance.

Unlike the other tracks on ep 1 which were written and produced entirely in studio, “gimme painless” has been a staple in Paper Tyger’s live performances for some time now. Lyrically, this song eludes me in a wonderful way. If there is something that connects the series of witticisms of the verses and the plea to God or someone else of the choruses, I’m not sure of it, but it is undoubtedly what has kept me coming back to this song as my favorite of this project.

The final track, “work,” ends the EP on a musical high. It is a loud and proper ending that ties together the themes of the work in a not-necessarily-optimistic but relatively so way. Beginning in a state of “unbecoming / just pick the pieces up,” the speaker is eventually “reassured” they “could lay here and die.” Langer leaves us singing “let’s make something work right now / I’m so guarded, help me out.” 

ep 1 is a promising beginning into Paper Tyger’s “serious music” with clever lyricism and seriously catchy music. Despite this being their “serious music,” it is undeniably fun. They approach some heavy themes with a witty levity both lyrically and sonically. If Langer is the musical surgeon he proclaims, I am ready, willing, and excited to go under the knife yet again when their debut album drops.