Paper Mice is a three-piece whirligig from Chicago that blends a freakish range of influences into miniature, prog-punk puzzles. The band is a fixture in Chicago’s tight-knit DIY community, performing their high-wire “stop-start mess of rhythmic tics and awkward face plants” for dance-soaked warehouse hounds throughout the Midwest and East Coast since 2007. Their first album, “Paint it Pink,” featured sixteen short, spastic songs about bizarre news stories, botched surgeries, and hirsute politicians. The follow-up, “The Funny Papers”, continues the band’s jagged jaunt through the world of current events with eleven tracks about canine heroes, fast-food and financial meltdowns, and Dolly Parton. The album was completed over three days in an elementary school gymnasium-turned giant, temporary recording studio. The comic artist, Paul Hornschemeier, designed and illustrated the album’s artwork. Two of the band members are music teachers, devoted to spreading their love of musical fun and mayhem to America’s youth. They all love animals.
Track listing:
When Bugs Cry
Big Blank
Simulacra
Hot Air
Swine Flu Suits
Cannon Fodder
Don’t Worry About the Governor
Research and Destroy
Dog Only Knows
Angry Meal
Banking Up the Wrong Tree