Paper Moon

Paper Moon
Healey’s, June 10
Paper Moon

The lights in Healey’s seemed to shine a little brighter during Paper Moon’s set. The Winnipeg band’s sunny indie pop was a ray of sunlight that helped to cut through the sense of gloom and foreboding that often fills the venue.

The band made a concerted effort to engage the audience and the between song banter was almost as enjoyable as the music. When singer Allison Shevernoha complained about the heat and announced that she would be taking off her jacket, it resulted in her coyly removing it to a shuffling drum beat. She then chastised the photographers in the audience for not snapping more pictures.

The adorable Shevernoha kept up a great level of energy as she danced around on stage. The harmonies between her and keyboard players Leslie Oldham and Nicole Pielou were absolutely impeccable.

While there was something incredibly familiar about their pop-rock tunes, there was also something incredibly comforting about them as well. It may be clichéd to compare a band’s music to a well-loved item of clothing but Paper Moon’s music is like a warm sweater that you’re reluctant to take off. It wasn’t particularly surprising that a sense of disappointment filled the venue after they announced their final song. - Andrew Horan, SceneAndHeard.ca

Down the street at the Collective, ’Peg popsters Paper Moon played a sweet set as part of the Endearing Records showcase. Like its aptly named label, the quintet’s delicate indie-rock stylings charmed the pants off the sneaker-clad audience. They didn’t snag Outstanding Pop Recording at the WCMAs, but they win our award for Cutest Band Ever. - Jared Story and Jen Zoratti, Uptown Magazine

Thunderstorms, huh? Well, they coulda fooled us. Granted, this third CD from this typically sunny indie-pop sextet has its rainy-day qualities. For instance, there are the piano arpeggios that gently fall like raindrops. And some subdued lightning and gently rumbling thunder from the guitars and drums (which are extra crunchy and punchy this time around). And of course, there are plenty of bittersweet lyrical clouds of love, longing and loss. But Alison Shevernoha's eternally warm and radiant vocals -- not to mention all the bright melodies, bouncy beats, whistling synths, peppy handclaps and breezy backups sprinkled throughout the 10-song, 33-minute disc -- never fail to part the haze, transforming this into the sonic equivalent of a refreshing spring sunshower. Their CD release party is on May 1 at the Pyramid. We suggest you bring your umbrella and some sunscreen, just to be on the safe side.

4 out of 5 stars

Darryl Sterdan
April 23, 2009 - The Winnipeg Sun

Formed shortly after the dissolution of Winnipeg-based pop band B’ehl, Paper Moon features three of the core members in their new jobs as new wave influenced pop rockers. This 10-track CD, the bands’ first, features the strong vocals of Allison Somers blended nicely into tight instrumentals which thankfully feature some great keyboard playing. There are a number of readily available influences here, including That Dog and the Cardigans. Paper Moon is another example of why the rest of the country needs to find the secret that has made Winnipeg a hotbed of quality indie rock. Start taking notes. -SS - Chart

High on hooks, melody and personality, Winnipeg’s most promising charmers Paper Moon make it look easy. This energized, new-wave-tinged pop is brought to us by the band formerly known as the Bonaduces (with an added keyboardist), powered by singerly singer Allison Somers’ confident girlishness and cerebral, lovelorn lyrics. Smiths fandom is a given considering song titles like “Your Thesaurus Won’t Help You Now” and “The History of Punctuation,” as well as some vocal inflections and guitar stylings, but Paper Moon’s sugary vigour leaves little room for the weepy stuff.
- The Montreal Mirror

“Life may not have a second act, but Paper Moon are proof that pop bands certainly can. A couple of years back, most of this co-ed quartet were in B'ehl, a beloved local outfit that put out two superior albums, Bright Eyes and Only a Paper Moon. Now regrouped with one new member -- and adopting a name that openly acknowledges their past -- the band picks up where they left off with the beguiling debut One Thousand Reasons to Stay ... One Reason to Leave. Jangly girl-pop is once again the order of the day, as the four bounce and strum their way along through a sunshiney world of spry beats, spun-sugar melodies, broken-hearted lyrics, vocals that channel the spirit of Juliana Hatfield and harmonies so bright they should wear sunglasses when they play. When you add it all up, that's reason enough to stick around for their next act.” 4 stars out of 5 - The Winnipeg Sun

Sprinkled with new wave theatrics and a sweet bubblegum pop or girl group flavoring, this Canadian group knows what it can and cannot pull off. The tight jangle rock of "Start Over" and "Your Thesaurus Won't Help You Now" is constant but competes with a synthesizer element, resembling a modern-day version of the Bangles or Go-Go's. Although some titles might be a bit wordy or eclectic, the group's plan of airtight pop rhythms and cavity-inducing harmonies is bound to attract power pop listeners. Both Heather Campbell and Allison Somers share most of the vocals, including the pretty "Mercury Is Clearly Opposing Neptune." Unfortunately, when the band changes pace, songs suffer as a result. "Sno-Globe" is a soppy downbeat track that adds little to the album. In other songs, such as the melodic "Pancake Bay Weather Station," the band resembles Sixpence None the Richer in its tone. The song also contains some orchestral strings in its chorus. There is no more defining track than "Better Days," with a gentle harmony and sweet pop arrangement. Another great track is the high-school slow-dance track "I've Done It Wrong Again," although it tends to lose a bit of its steam near its culmination. - allmusic.com

Lame joking aside, initially I disliked the opening track, 'Your Thesaurus Won't Help You Now'. I felt that Heather Campbell's sonic keyboard overtones fragmented Allison Somers' vocals, but as the album progressed, a sense of floating balance between the bass, keyboard, guitar and drum proliferated. Allison's voice reminded me of an early Sarah Harmer project, Weeping Tile, with a touch of Nina Persson of Cardigans fame. The album moves beautifully from bouncy intimate reflections in 'Better Days' to a soft rocking, almost jazzy, textured 'Remember me'.

Amusingly titled 'Pancake Bay Weather Station' recounts the story of an individual examining their past through a photo album. "This is me looking over my shoulder, this is me pretending I had what I wanted, made myself believe that life could be better," recounts Allison. While, 'I've Done It Wrong Again' recounts a friendship gone sour. Perhaps the underlying message of One Thousand Reasons to Stay… One Reason to Leave is that time marches on collecting the joys and misgivings within our lives.

Ironically, either to the band's credit or perhaps a fan's dismay, depending on how you view the issue, the album ends prematurely at around forty minutes with ten tracks. On the subject of time, comedian Jon Lithgow once said, "time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug." - Umbrella Music

Though maybe not a thousand, there are certainly a great many reasons to like Paper Moon's debut full-length release, One Thousand Reasons To Stay . . . One to Leave. Here are six of them:

Reason 1: The band's press release. I love a good press release, and Paper Moon has succeeded in forwarding one that's innovative and funny.

All the necessary information is there -- a short bio, information about the album, the players and their positions in the band, email addresses and websites, phone numbers and names of relevant contacts -- as well as a bizarre little strip down the side of the paper detailing tidbits about Paper Moon such as a "File Under" category, letting me know that the band describes itself as "new-wave influenced pop", the track numbers that are the band's own favorites and a list of artists Paper Moon "would sound good on a mix tape with" including the Cardigans, Blondie, and the Sundays.

Reason 2: Pedigree. The members of Paper Moon are seasoned musicians who have been working in the music industry and performing for a number of years prior to the birth of the band.

Principal band members Allison and Bob Somers and Chris Hiebert were all members of defunct Prairie Music Award-nominated band, the Bonaduces, as well as the mildly successful B'ehl. B'ehl's Bright Eyes record earned excellent reviews worldwide, including a Critic's Choice review in Billboard magazine, spent time at the top of Canadian campus radio charts and even managed to get a song played in an episode of Dawson's Creek. Campbell's vocals, also, are by no means unfamiliar to Canadian audiences, having featured on three albums released by critically acclaimed pop/rock outfit, the Electrosonics.

Paper Moon melds the best parts of each of these acts to create a fresh, hip collection of songs.

Reason 3: Singer Heather Campbell's squeaky, lollipop-girl vocals are reminiscent of the Murmurs, Lisa Loeb and, oddly, Joey Lauren Adams in her ode to her sweetheart in the 1997 film, Chasing Amy. Campbell's gleeful, hippie-like voice breathes bubbly life into the band's pop-fuelled, rockin' tunes, sounding at once innocent and dominant.

Reason 4: The band's startling ability to create infectious pop-rock melodies, consistently competent in their writing and playing. Campbell and Somers keep their guitars upbeat and forceful throughout, with just the right amount of pumping backbeat from drummer, Hiebert.

Paper Moon's unrelenting joviality is completely refreshing. The band ensure the album's energetic tracks -- the best of which being "Remember Me" and "Better Days" -- remain toe-tappingly catchy from beginning to end, though even the album's solitary ballad, "I've Done It Wrong Again", manages to get your shoulders shaking.

Reason 5: Song titles like "Your Thesaurus Won't Help You Now". With intricate, expressive twists in their song lyrics and titles, the Paper Moon guys demonstrate a distinct love of language. "Thesaurus" features a couple a real gems, including "Wrestle phrases from a frozen mind / Extract the necessary lines to ensure continuance / Of what I've taken for granted all this time".

The earthy "The History of Punctuation", about a relationship slowly falling apart, features a lot of this refined songwriting, with the band constructing mind-bending tongue twisters like "If fleeting intentions are ignored without resolve / Building together runs on and on" and "Things can never be the same / Empty pages speak volumes / Reams of endless chatter / Never see the light outside your room" sung by Campbell at rapid-fire pace.

And, the beautifully titled "Pancake Bay Weather Station" sees the band create another lyrically complex song about discovering the present by charting the past via old photo albums: "There amidst the blurry highway curiosities badly framed landscapes and poorly lit places is a startling revelation / I hadn't expected to find / This is me looking over my shoulder / This is me watching something that's just out of view / This is me pretending I had what I wanted / And this was you".

Honorable groovy-title mentions go, also, to "Sno-Globe" and "Mercury Is Clearly Opposing Neptune".

Reason 6: One Thousand Reason is simply a lively, intelligent blend of pop/rock tracks each instantly likeable, danceable and capable. - Pop Matters

Paper Moon is a Winnipeg–based band. Terms used to describe their music include poppy, sweet and catchy as hell. Unlike other pop bands they like to write songs with long titles such as Your Thesaurus Won’t Help You Now and Mercury is Clearly Opposing Neptune. Their debut album with the equally lengthy title One Thousand Reasons To Stay One Reason To Leave, released this summer, became a hit on campus radio and received rave reviews from the press.


The four members of Paper Moon can be considered veterans of the music business. The band features Allison Somers (ex–B’ehl) on guitar, Bob Somers (ex–B’ehl and The Bonaduces) on bass, Chris Hiebert (also ex–B’ehl and The Bonaduces) on drums, and Heather Campbell (ex–The Electrosonics and Bossanova) on keyboards and guitar.


I talked to Allison and Chris before a recent show at the Railway Club during their first Western tour. This was before they decided to spray me with a dose of Binaca.


Paper Moon is a Winnipeg–based band. Terms used to describe their music include "poppy", "sweet" and "catchy as hell". Unlike other pop bands they like to write songs with long titles such as "Your Thesaurus Won’t Help You Now" and "Mercury is Clearly Opposing Neptune". Their debut album with the equally lengthy title One Thousand Reasons To Stay One Reason To Leave, released this summer, became a hit on campus radio and received rave reviews from the press.


The four members of Paper Moon can be considered veterans of the music business. The band features Allison Somers (ex–B’ehl) on guitar, Bob Somers (ex–B’ehl and The Bonaduces) on bass, Chris Hiebert (also ex–B’ehl and The Bonaduces) on drums, and Heather Campbell (ex–The Electrosonics and Bossanova) on keyboards and guitar.


I talked to Allison and Chris before a recent show at the Railway Club during their first Western tour. This was before they decided to spray me with a dose of Binaca.


DiSCORDER: Can you tell us a bit about the history of Paper Moon and what the band B’ehl has to do with it.
Allison: B’ehl is me and Melanie (Barnes). We were friends in high school. Then we recruited Bob. A couple years later Chris came into B’ehl. It was good for about a year but then Melanie wanted to go into a different direction than the three of us. In a folkier direction. She was writing slow, quiet songs. She and I both wrote an equal amount of songs, so I would counter that with louder and faster songs. So there was this tug of war and none of us really felt that good about it. It didn’t seem like a concise band.
Chris: It wasn’t cohesive at all. It was two different directions and it was this constant pull.
Allison: Yeah. So we thought that we would just call it quits. We felt like we really couldn’t go any further with it. Then a couple months later the three of us, Bob, Chris and I, decided that we really missed playing together. So we decided to start up a new band and it turned out that Heather was going to be moving to Winnipeg. When we were on tour in Vancouver we bumped into her and I mentioned that I might be starting up a new band and if she were to move to Winnipeg we’d love to have her. So she moved and joined the band as well.


So, do you still consider yourself B’ehl? The name of the band is from the first B’ehl CD entitled Only A Paper Moon.
Chris: When three quarters of a band come from another band comparisons are going to be drawn. One thing we all wanted to avoid when we started out was putting "ex–members of B’ehl, ex–members of Bonaduces, and ex–members of Bossanova" on the posters. But instead of starting completely from scratch we still wanted to have some reference to the past. The first B’ehl album was Only A Paper Moon, so we figured we’ll reference that. That’s where the name came from I guess. I think we are a progression of B’ehl.


Would a big difference between B’ehl and Paper Moon be that you dropped the softer songs as Paper Moon?
Allison: It’s not even that. We do have some softer songs, but there’s more dynamic to them. They are not just at one level. Our slow songs have some power to them, which wasn’t what Mel wanted. She just wanted soft all the way through a song. Our slower songs are more emotional I guess.
Chris: You know, B’ehl had the two directions, the constant pull, but now one of sources of that pull is gone, so we are free to go into the direction that we were intending to go anyways. More rocky, more dynamic.


How are you guys enjoying your Western tour so far?
Allison: We had a couple of good shows. It’s a little humbling starting off a new band. But surprisingly we had a good show in Saskatoon and a good show in Calgary. Kind of starting from scratch, no one has heard of you.
Chris: Some people have heard of us.
Allison: Yeah, there are B’ehl fans that somehow found out about us.
Chris: There’s this Endearing name too. Sort of this mark of quality I guess. [Laughs] We are familiar with the West, we have a lot of contacts in the West, so it’s fairly easy for Endearing bands to tour out here. It’s all friends and family. Everybody knows everybody else.


Any interesting tour stories this time?
Chris: Okay. A couple days ago, on the way to Nelson, I killed my first animal on the highway. I ran over this little squirrel. He had food in his mouth in the middle of the highway. I thought he was just going to sit there, and then all of a sudden he ran out in front of the tires. Allison: That’s kind of sad.
Chris: Yeah. I still feel like crap about that. That’s my interesting tour story. I killed a squirrel and I’m really sorry.
Allison: [to Chris] Yeah, I felt so bad for you. I just want to give you a big hug.


Is that a van you were driving?
Allison: Yes. We rented a big ass van this time. Old 1989 van or something. Makes a lot of noises.
Chris: Eleven passenger van. And we stop about every hour for gas.


Who runs and maintains your website?
Chris: I do.


Compared to other bands’ website the Paper Moon website is updated very frequently. Chris: It is.
Allison: It’s very important.
Chris: I used to be in a band with Bob called The Bonaduces, and I used to maintain the website for that, but wasn’t in control of the content. I was very, very frustrated by the lack of updates. We would go for months without anything. It really got to me, and I just determined to myself that I was never going to have a band website do that again.
Allison: And I mean you go to a band’s website, and you want to see something different. You want to see what’s new with the band. When we toured out east and in the States we met quite a few people. And we realized that the only way to keep in touch with the people that we met is basically through the website.
Chris: It just makes the band seem active. And it’s fun.


Do you ever get any interesting email through the website?
Allison: We got emails from two Paper Moon bands. We got Paper Moon from Holland who emailed us, sent us a CD and promised us that if we wanted to go down there they would take us on a tour with them. And then we got another email from a Paper Moon swing band in Vancouver.


That’s crazy. I’ve never heard of them.
Chris: Yeah, the Paper Moon Orchestra. They heard about us I guess a couple of years ago when we first started and didn’t think much of us. I guess they now just found out that we are more active, so the guy emailed me and said, "Just so you know we’ve changed our name to the Paper Moon Orchestra…"
Allison: "since you guys are going national and everything." [Laughs]
Chris: "just to avoid any confusion."


Describe and explain the Binaca project.
Chris: Ok. Well, what happens is Allison sprays Binaca into people’s mouths, and I take a Polaroid of it as it’s happening. And we study the results and determine whether or not that person is a robot based on their reaction. [Laughs]
Allison: And it’s not like we are against robots at all. It’s just that we understand that they are around and we are curious as to how many there are.
Chris: Pure statistical analysis.


And how many photographs have you collected so far?
Allison: We got a lot. How many did we get out east?
Chris: We got about thirty. Out west on this tour we have about forty. By the time we get home we’ll have about seventy.


And you are going to post them on your website? Or maybe you living room wall?
Allison: The eastern ones are already posted under the photo gallery on our website. And then we’ll post these ones when we get back. We have a little write–up for each person.
Chris: It’s just another way to have human contact with the audience.
Allison: Everyone wants to see their picture on the website. You know what I mean? [Laughs]


Now that you’ve read all about the Paper Moon website, you can visit it yourself at www.papermoon.ca. - Discorder