Paper Lions: Trophies (EP)

    Today on YouTube I stumbled upon a Canadian four piece band originally from Prince Edward Island, now Charlottetown, called Paper Lions. I liked what I heard alright and decided to look them up. Well, I had the most difficult time finding out accurate information about Paper Lions. Their MySpace has two albums streaming that (to the best of my knowledge) belong to a 2001-2004 hardcore post-punk "Paper Lions" band from Athens, GA--who I am led to believe dissolved when their record label Kindercore came into legal trouble in the early 2000s. So, The Symptom and the Sick and the Split EP are not even theirs, and they are not listed on their Wikipedia page. Furthermore, the third album available to stream on Paper Lions' MySpace is self-titled, which also does not appear in their Wiki discography. Come to find out, however, Paper Lions used to be called The Chucky Danger Band and changed their name in 2008 to Paper Lions (just to confuse us all!) and re-released their self-titled Chucky Danger (2007) as Paper Lions in 2010. Difficult to follow? I thought so too.
    To summarize, Paper Lions as The Chucky Danger Band produced the following: Two Brothers, A Major, and a Minor (2003), an EP I have no information on; 6-Pack EP (2004); their debut LP Colour (2006); and a follow up LP, Chucky Danger (2007). Then, as Paper Lions, they have come out with a Trophies EP (2010), which has also been re-released independently for free as of February 2012, because whichever record label signed them did not give them any of the proceeds. Have not been able to figure out which company that is as Paper Lions respectfully did not name it. So the free download of Trophies is here, where you can also donate via PayPal to the band, for their troubles. And, finally, they are releasing a new acoustic At Long Creek EP June 16th, and will also give that album away free! Feeling especially generous, or maybe their donation [scheme] is working? Just kidding, not trying to mis-speculate.
    Paper Lions was started by two brothers, John (singer) and Rob (bass guitar) MacPhee, Colin Buchanan (guitar) and David Cyrus MacDonald (drums). Their sound varies from a folk-ish influenced pop rock to post-punk to power pop (slightly). The folk comes in when they play softer tunes with more acoustic instruments and  ballade type melodies. And the power pop is more from the harmonized vocals, also something akin to punk. But, overall, they are post-punk, with melodic vocals, punk rhythms and guitar riffs/timbres--the latter even more true of their earlier albums. Trophies consists of six songs: (1) "Hands" - punchy and upbeat with distorted post-punk sensibilities; (2) "Lost the War" - probably the most well known, utilizing that indie folk type chorus where the vocals are slightly lo-fi and sung loudly by everyone over everything else; (3) "Sweat it Out" - power pop influenced for sure, with honky piano and a Broadway-esque melody and lyrics; (4) "Don't Touch that Dial" - the rhythm in the guitar at the start sounds almost exactly like Darwin Deez, upbeat and post-punk written all over it; (5) "Stay Here For a While" - also a little power poppy, with hoppy guitar rhythms and tambourine keeping it lively; (6) "Trouble" - darker and almost hip hop-ish too, with honky piano and a heavier but sparse beat, the guitar timbre sounds like Muse in their Absolution or Origin of Symmetry days.
    Hope you like Paper Lions, a good listen that should at least keep you entertained for a good bit. You can listen to Colour on MySpace here, Paper Lions also MySpace here, At Long Creek on Exclaim.ca prior to its release here, and Trophies on SoundCloud here. All full legal streams. I have linked their song "Don't Touch That Dial'"over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!