Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want

Papercuts is a friendly San Franciscan who was raised on a California commune, but actually makes punishing death metal that would frighten Cannibal Corpse. Not really. He makes the kind of music that you would if your parents were Merry Pranksters too: sunny, dreamy, melodic pop with emotion seeping from every tanned, healthy pore. What is perhaps surprising, though, is that Papercuts often draws more on Manchester than Haight-Ashbury for influence – it seems that baggy acts like World of Twist, Mock Turtles and even The Charlatans were required listening in The Hog Farm. Present and correct are the shuffling drums, vague, reverb-heavy vocals and of course the omnipresent organ, although it’s all given a less-druggy West Coast makeover. There's a bit of the superfluous noodling that hippies tend towards, which sounds a little gratuitous. But overall, the gentle, glowing sound and tight songwriting make this album a warm and fuzzy psychedelic respite from a British winter. [Euan Ferguson]