The investigator

The paranoid style

The investigator

Bar/None

May 15, 2024
Web Exclusive

By Matthew Berliand

By now, fans should know exactly what to expect from any new Paranoid Style album and this, their first since 2022 For Executive Assembly (and fourth overall since their 2016 debut LP, Rolling revelation), is no exception. And at this level, The investigator delivers. Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Elizabeth Nelson's biting, crisp and ever-present and literate lyrics are cited by everyone from Nick Lowe (on the superbly titled 'I Love the Sound of Structured Class') to John Cooper Clarke (on 'Last Night in Chickentown”) to Thin Lizzy, Bob Dylan and Neil Young elsewhere.

A fourth album from this Durham, North Carolina by way of Washington, DC band that simply rehashed the hits of their first three and accompanying EPs would be more than welcome. However, Nelson, guitarist Timothy Bracy (formerly of The Mendoza Line) and longtime collaborator William Metheny, among others, up the ante here, enlisting dB/REM power-pop legend Peter Holsapple to play tastefully but never overwhelmingly guitar lick. They also further cement their connection to 80s college/indie rock.

Another difference is the direct inspiration from the early 80s production style of ZZ Top's breakthrough album Eliminator, combining genres and sounds that were once considered separate, in their case electronic textures with guitar-based rock and roll, adding it to their already potent pop/New Wave/pub rock/garage rock stew. And while this record doesn't really sound like ZZ Top or any Texas-based boogie or blues rock, one can definitely hear and feel the steadier 4/4 rhythms here.

What's more, there are not only musical references aplenty here, but others, such as in “The Return of The Molly Maguires” that highlight a historic group of working-class heroes whose story is just as relevant today as it was in the 1870s. And there's (usually) dark humor throughout the record, if the above wasn't an indication, and as evidenced by song titles like “Print the Legend”. (www.theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com/)

Author Rating: 8/10