The Paper Kites - "At the Roadhouse"
If you listen close, you can smell the bar room
I find it amusing that this is the second awesome Aussie discovery for me in a week. The Paper Kites have been around for just over a decade now – this is their sixth album – but this is the first I’ve heard of them. They have 7.4 million listeners on Spotify, which dwarfs the vast majority of Metal acts.1
And I can see why.
The Paper Kites are an Indie Rock/Folk Rock band who utilize a plethora of styles in their music. In fact, Sam Bentley (Lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) was asked recently to define the band’s style, and his response was: “We are whatever we released on the last record.”
So, on that note, let’s begin breaking down this album. And I’d like to start with the story behind it, because it feels essential to the character of what this album is. And it starts with an idea.
The band decided that they wanted their own space. A place that could be both a studio and a performance venue. So, in July of 2022, the band started searching for a place that would work for this dream. And they found it in Campbells Creek, Victoria, a former gold-mining town. They renovated the space and named it ‘The Roadhouse’.
Here’s where it gets fun - they designed this place to be a studio and a dive bar. So, with the renovations complete, the band hangs out here and starts working on their new album during the week. Then, on the weekend, they open it up to the public. No advertising. Just word-of-mouth. And, reportedly, within a month they’re already having to turn people away at the doors.
This is the spiritual foundation for At the Roadhouse. An album of songs meant to be played live in a barroom, mostly downtempo and contemplative; all folksy and easy listening.
It is, to put it simply, the exact opposite of Soen’s Memorial. Which makes it incredibly fun that they released the same day and I get to review this album directly after Memorial. And, in giving each their first listen, “Vitals” was actually a perfect segue track.
At the Roadhouse is largely dominated by light, conservative instrumentation which, nevertheless, unites to form this soothing soundscape. The guitar, heavy with reverb, dominates the top layer of most songs along with Bentley’s vocals. The backdrop is generally filled in with bass, another guitar (often acoustic), steel guitar, and drums. The steel guitar often feels foundational in a way, helping to set the tone of most songs with its lulling twang. Other instruments, such as banjos and harmonica, are often brought in.
And the lyrical subjects are very folky, very country, in the sense that they’re largely very personal and somber compositions. It reminds me strongly of Country songs from the 80s and 90s which featured smoke-filled bar rooms and men crying into their beer. And if the album’s conceptual heart is a dive bar, then filling it with the likely stories of the patrons drowning their sorrows feels appropriate.
This isn’t a ‘good times’ album. There’s nothing here you’d want to play at a party. “June’s Stolen Car” is the most upbeat track here, and it’s still a laid-back sort of rocker.
Somber as it is, though, At the Roadhouse is full of musicality; beautiful melodies surrounded by atmospheric instrumentation make this album worth the listen. And there’s a lot to enjoy, as the 16 tracks here, all full songs, run for 79 minutes. It’s the longest album this year. Possibly the second-longest I’ve reviewed to-date (behind Mastodon’s 2021 release, Hushed and Grim). And over that span, the band hits on bits of Folk, Rock, Blues, Americana,2 and even a touch of Gospel right at the end.
Standout tracks include “Black and Thunder”, which contains grungy guitar licks that I can only describe as “casually sick”. Another reviewer likened the riffs on that track to Santana, and I can hear it. Another standout which that same reviewer addressed is “Good Nights Gone”. Again, they were pretty on the nose when they said it sounded like Fleetwood Mac; you feel it most, I think, in the guitar line that lingers in the backdrop through the verses, but the whole song feels like it could be an ode to FM.
Finally, closer “Darkness at My Door” brings the tempo up a bit for only really the second time and delivers a soulful final track. It’s a compelling conclusion to a thoroughly relaxing album.
I really enjoyed this one. There’s incredible artistry on display here. I highly recommend this one to anybody looking for something you can put on in the background or just relax with.
Rating: Blue
Nightwish for example, has less than three million.
Even though they’re Australian; if an American band came up with “June’s Stolen Car”, nobody would bat an eye at that label.