James Beastly – We Should Be Animals
Genre-defying songwriter Jim Paulos, AKA James Beastly, returns to buffaBLOG wielding a new sonic blade: his upcoming album, We Should Be Animals. As Beastly himself aptly puts it, he was once, “… too indie to be punk and too punk to be indie.” Nick Sessanna reviewed James Beastly’s previous album Junk Values here, giving it high praise. We’re happy to review his newest collection of songs – this time with a somewhat different approach. Overall more relaxed, the album ranges from buzzing shoegaze to dissociative, ambient folk. Moreover, We Should Be Animals is Beastly’s most ambitious attempt, starring key musicians like those from The Cast-Iron Canaries, Patrick Byers from Broken Social Scene, and Magdalena Żaczek of Smokey Robinson and Andrea Bocelli fame. “Spring Violets,” the lead single from We Should Be Animals, queues with a disheartening, eerie synth pad. The quiet bellows of Paulos sit atop a decidedly[...]
