Gym Class Heroes – Papercut Chronicles

A few months ago Fueled By Ramen Records released a short four song EP by Gym Class Heroes called The Papercut EP, it immediately caught my attention as its hip-hop melodies are not something that normally find its way into my CD player. The EP was, of course, a sampler for the band’s new full length The Papercut Chronicles, so when I got it I was pretty excited.

It starts off with a very weird introduction that put me off at first until the computerized voice comes in saying “Hi, have you ever wondered what it would be like to hear some music? Well this is your big chance” as he goes on to describe what music is. The introduction is still weird, but listening to the description of music is quite entertaining.

The hip-hop group, which uses all live instruments rather then loops and such, has some strong standout sucks like Make Out Club and Taxi Driver, which were both on the EP, along with Cupid’s Chokehold (featuring Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy) and my favorite, Faces In The Hall (which talks about the trouble a homosexual child goes through during high school with being teased all the time). Other surprising aspects of the album are just the instrumental pieces and free styling tracks like Graduation Day, Apollo 3-1-5 and wejustfreestylin’pt2; which, oddly enough, all comes one after another. They really follow no specific song structure with some intense breakdowns, that bring up some memories of Eminem, some space like atmospheres and some more straight hip-hop.

The album was a slight let down compared to the EP as I don’t think I’m fully ready to listen to an entire hip-hop album yet and find that some of the songs sound very similar to one another. It is still a good release, and if you liked the EP you’ll like it. Just make sure your able to listen to eighteen tracks of hip-hop tunes rather then your emo or punk songs you normally rock.