PAWS - ‘PAWS’ review
PAWS by Nicky Murray
After their fourth album, 2019's Your Church On My Bonfire, PAWS songwriters Phillip Jon Taylor and Joshua Swinney toured briefly, then disappeared as the world shut down. Phillip retreated to the Scottish Highlands, focusing on painting, solo work, and fatherhood. Josh headed south to London, pursuing his passion as a chef at the acclaimed Plimsoll. It would have been easy to settle into their new lives, but PAWS lived on. Late last month, they released their breathtaking self-titled album on Ernest Jenning Record Co. and their own Wish Fulfillment Press.
PAWS is a succinct, gritty documentary chronicling the pains of modern living, encased in a celebration of everything the duo does best. The album fuses shoegaze drone, Midwestern emo-inspired lyricism, and gritty DIY punk guitars. From the caustic sample that opens "Helen Back" to the closing bars of "Disenchanted," PAWS demands undivided attention. At just over 34 minutes, it doesn't feel short; every minute is used to its fullest, and the album is devoid of filler.
The aforementioned opener “Helen Back” is the perfect introduction to the album, a track that grows and grows, serving as both the bold reawakening of PAWS and the rebirth of their sound for listeners. It features classic guttural PAWS but also shows the duo's dynamism and depth in their more mature sound. The track builds over its runtime into a total cacophonic onslaught in the best possible way.
"Uncertain" is my favourite track on the album, an empathetic ode to the uncertainty that encapsulates a conflicted soul at its deepest and truest. It features one of the album's finest guitar solos, and PAWS create a deeply layered sound for just two people. The more I listen, the more the track captures my attention, from the deep-driving bass and layered distorted vocals to the pounding drums, tweaking synths, and Taylor's screaming battered Jaguar that rips the track open to its core. No surprise it was selected as the album's final teaser before its release.
Following "Uncertain" is another standout track, "One Nation Under Dog." Driven by a frenzy of power chords and Swinney's pounding drums, PAWS explore the fears and helplessness of our current predicament: a capitalist dystopia where we are destroying the world, yet those in charge only care about themselves and their own accusation of as much wealth as possible. Taylor rages against this injustice in his soaring vocals, singing, "There's no hope / Only fire and brimstone / If acquiring and selling is all that we have to live for."
At the album's halfway point, we are presented with the largely instrumental "Sound Aye No Bother," the track with the most Scottish title on the album. It's a perfect example of the intoxicating, magical properties of music, reminding us that art is our last and greatest weapon. It implores you to listen to every layer of depth rooted within the sonic assault that is PAWS the album.
The penultimate track, "S.A.H.D.," is the second longest song on the album and a perfect melting pot of PAWS' 90s alternative influences. It blends slow, spacious shoegaze rhythms with alt-rock melodies and lyrical content that references Billy Corgan, The Smashing Pumpkins, and even their track "Bullet With Butterfly Wings." The song explores the modern world's fascination with instant gratification from social media and morbid true crime, and how we've all become "misery hoarders." Musically, it's the kind of track you put on in a dimly lit room and let engulf every fibre of your being.
The album closes with "Disenchanted," one of the most traditionally PAWS tracks on the album. It's clear why it was chosen as the first single when the album was announced back in August: it's a just-under-two-minute thrill ride of DIY punk. The track's lyrics explore themes of disorientation and alienation, asking the question "What and who are we as human beings?" It was also the first song written and recorded for the album, during a quick jam at the end of a social visit when Swinney was visiting Taylor up in Scotland. Its speedy creation perfectly summarizes the frantic nature of the track.
I'm grateful that PAWS didn't allow themselves to fade away and instead produced their self-titled album, the best of their career. Encased in a celebration of their unique blend of shoegaze-heavy DIY punk, the album documents the pains of modern living with striking honesty and raw emotion, exploring themes of alienation, anxiety, and rage.
PAWS’ self-titled album is out now via Ernest Jenning Record Co. and their own Wish Fulfillment Press and is available on all good streaming platforms. You can catch PAWS on tour across the UK this November and December.
