The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us

 "I get a lot of e-mail that says, "Your music frightens my cat." -John Congleton

What do you get when the producer of successful pop acts such as U2's Bono, R. Kelly, and Explosions in the Sky decides to start writing his own music? Surprisingly you get some seriously spooky stuff.

Now You Are One Of Us wastes no time setting a creepy tone with a sample of a real radio interview of some wack-o who is supposedly flying over area-51.  From there you get a steady diet of uncomfortable subject matter being sung over jagged piano, ominous riffs and discordant melodies separated by equally creepy sample interludes.  The whole album feels as though you are listening in on a deliriously paranoid man's desperate thoughts and painfully authentic threats.  Deliciously creepy song titles such as "We Know Where You Sleep", "You Are One Of Them Aren't You", and "We Will Make You One Of Us" cements the feeling of intense paranoia.  Congleton's own experience with ardent panic attacks definitely seep through the songs giving the listener a taste of what it may feel like to truly experience hysteria.

The greatest discomfort of all comes when you realize that although some of the subject matter is over the top, all these feelings are human (even if they are at the very fringe of what is considered normal) and that all feelings most likely exist somewhere deep inside every one of us.  See the very ending of "At The Other End of The Leash " as a frightening example of the perpetual loneliness and boredom one can experience even while surrounded by creature comforts and people who care for you.

So give it a listen, but maybe turn on all the lights in your room first.

The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us