PAPA is a three-piece formed by Darren Weiss, drummer from Girls (the band that sounds like The Beach Boys and The Cure at the same time, and therefore cannot escape comparison). Whereas Girls is all twisted beach music and unsteady melancholy, PAPA is a more cathartic, up-front rock and roll construction of rebellion and disappointment. This project borrows from Girls’ toolbox of jangly, California-worthy sounds, turns up the volume, hits the drums a little harder and yells over it. The lead singer has a deep, serious warble that commands attention over the unfocused jangle like an energetic Stephen Merritt.
PAPA is simultaneously perfect for dancing and perfect for passive listening — not sad, not happy, but a comprehensible blend of dance and rock that fills the gap too often left between them. This indelicate mixture of surf and the haze is so rich that it feels like a passing pleasure, like satiating a food craving as many times as it takes to get rid of it. The five-song EP is delicious, but in a way that encourages short-lived, intense adoration to be discarded when the listener has absorbed as much as he/she can take. PAPA is so right for right now that overdosing is hard to resist. Don’t stay away though; it’s better to have loved and purged than to have never loved at all. MORE
I just found your blog and I wanted to say I like it! You have a lot of great songs here and I can see you have been blogging for a long time. I also noticed the lack of ads which is almost unheard of these days. That's a good thing. Bookmarked.