Album Notes

Bio

A vintage echo in the Pacific Northwest air, Paper Brain’s dreamy soundscape, sunny boy-girl swapped melodies and harmonic interludes play to the present while hinting at the past. “I've always loved the sound and tone of the 60's and, consequently, have always cherished the instruments from that era,” says Mike Wroblewski (guitars/vocals/bass). “If it were up to me, we’d be playing with all vintage equipment; Moog synths, Wurlitzer electric pianos, any guitars or amps made in the 60’s / 70’s just because I love the sound…nothing really compares.”

Drawn to the vintage equipment of Klickitat Band Camp, Wroblewski, Adam Zavala (drums/percussion), Jeni Wroblewski (vocals/piano/keys/bass) and Duncan Galvin (bass/guitar/vocals) chose to record their sophomore album, Ain’t Nobody Cares, at Shay Scott’s KBC Studios. Sharing a love of Beatles recording methods with Scott, they sought to reproduce several of the techniques themselves, including the famous “flange” technique which creates the effect of doubling vocals without singing multiple times. Wroblewski notes, “John Lennon loved to layer his vocals and frequently asked for the ‘flange’ after he had a good take down. We use the phase effect on a couple of songs, most notably on ‘Dead Leaves.’"

While “flange” can easily be noticed among nimble production, a few unrelated musical surprises linger in the making of the band’s earnest sound. Instruments and techniques from decades past help make up the band’s simple sound while unexpected literary inspiration creeps up from the canon of Edgar Allan Poe. “Edgar Allan Poe's certainly put a lot of things (lyrical rhythm, structure, imagery) into perspective for me. I read a poem of his called ‘Eulalie - A Song’ a few years ago and I fell in love with it. I wanted to try to put some music to his lyrics but eventually scrapped Poe's lyrics and wrote my own ‘Eulalie,’ which became ‘Robin Hood.’”

Sharing stages with The Shackletons,The Builders and the Butchers, and Horse Feathers, the band looks to indie inspired groups like Blonde Redhead, Arcade Fire and Pavement to enhance their arsenal of melodic, sometimes dark, sometimes bright, but always very focused instrumental melodies and vocals.


Press

"Paper Brain has potential to become a staple among PacNW music" --Willamette Week’s Local Cut “Cut of the Day”

"An almost British Invasion type of pop that is both melodic and melancholy, all the while avoiding the structural cliches of traditional pop songs." --Mish Mash

"Paper Brain could soundtrack long sweeping shots of big sky, and then the camera pans to the car and the heads are hanging out the window, hair blowing in the wind, getting all mussed up, but it’s so worth it for the fresh air of the wind, and for the goodtime tunes of Paper Brain" --KPSU Magazine “D ‘n’ A” section

"The music is honest and intellegent, at times wistful and full of longing, and could pare well with any Wes Anderson film." --Ten Second Buzz “Buzz Band”