The Paper Chase

Congleton - guitar, everything Dalton - drums Weaver - bass Kirpatrick - piano, samplers

The pAper chAse were borne out of Dallas, Texas. The kind of place where the everyday is all that happens. (John) Congleton, singer, guitarist, songwriter formed the band as an creative outlet aside from his production work. Having produced bands such as the 90 Day Men and acted as an engineers for everyone from The Roots to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he decided he needed to record the sounds in his own, troubled, mind.

The bands first release their debut album "Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know" on small US indie, Beatville records. Written primarily as an outlet for Congleton's frequent panic attacks. It's the sound of everything falling apart; the sound of frustration, the sound of wanting and rejecting love, life, death. The focus is on human interaction where "anything can happen, anything can go wrong." Its terrifyingly stark, harsh arrangements along with Congleton's unique, seemingly improvised guitar work and strained vocal chords, setting a blueprint for what was to follow. They toured extensively in the United States building up a small but dedicated following and a huge amount of respect from other musicians.

Following on from this they released Cntrl-Alt-Delete-U on Divot. A raw EP that was "a commentary on the average human's reliance on technology and the division it has drawn between nature and such...". Around this time, the Band came to the attention of Southern Records Europe which saw them sign a deal, and allowed their next album to be released in Europe. Their second full length album was "Hide the Kitchen Knives", the first release on Southern in Europe and Beatville in the US. This album explored themes of intimacy and relationships - whether familial or romantic or platonic - Hide the Kitchen Knives picks up where Young Bodies left off. the pAper chAse will be making their first visit to European shores at the beginning of 2003. To mark the fact Southern will be giving the first European release to Young Bodies, this time with an extra track, a cover of "Five Years" by David Bowie.

Source: http://www.southern.com/southern/band/PAPCH/biog.php