(Sipsman, cassette, digital)
The term “slacker rock” has been generously applied to Vermont’s Paper Castles — especially by writers for this publication. The brainchild of Jericho-based Waking Windows cofounder Paddy Reagan, the long-running project certainly ticks all the slacker-rock boxes: a casual, intimate singing style; quirky, conversational lyrics; and provocative yet nonconfrontational arrangements and production.
Despite the subgenre’s pejorative connotation, nothing is slacked off in Paper Castles’ compulsively listenable new album, I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore. Perhaps the only slacker-ish thing about it is that it was recorded in a miraculous eight hours at Burlington’s Little Jamaica Recordings.
Maybe the band was all like, “Whatever, man, it sounds fine.” But the far more likely explanation is that Reagan and his bandmates — drummer Brennan Mangan, guitarist Wren Kitz and bassist Emily Tompkins — are a finely calibrated crew with a clear vision that has been materializing since the release of Paper Castles’ 2018 record, Acceptionalism.
Recorded and mixed by the multitalented Benny Yurco, I’m Sad… weaves societal and interpersonal dread through its robust, guitar-forward instrumentation. Its title cleverly inverts Peter Finch’s classic quote from the film Network, replacing “mad” and “take” with “sad” and “fake.” Both phrases express a liminal emotional state, but Paper Castles’ title subverts Finch’s outrage with something more like surrender.
That doesn’t mean I’m Sad… finds its songwriter reaching maximum zen. There’s still plenty to be annoyed with in 2025, especially for anyone making art.
The album opens with the scathing “Content Creator,” which criticizes a world in which everything and everyone is reduced to clicks and marketability, even when it’s a losing game.
“I’m a content creator / Can’t you tell by the way I yell / All the time? / Not a dime to my name,” Reagan sings with more than a hint of sarcasm. A four-on-the-snare beat comes off like a ticking clock, while the wonky, unpredictable chord changes on the song’s chorus underscore the pressure and uncertainty of being “still not on the list” and finding the right lighting (“Incandescent’s much more natural”).
Similar themes appear on “Name Changer,” a laid-back tune appointed with psychedelic guitar flourishes. “I’ll never change my name again / Got a real good handle and I don’t want to give it in,” Reagan declares, a possible nod to how disruptive a rebrand can be for anyone building an audience. More likely, it’s a statement about authenticity.
Overall, I’m Sad… seems to be about acceptance, a state of mind hard to come by in 2025. The theme returns again and again, from the title affirmation of “I’m Alright” to Reagan’s question and answer on “Modern Myth”: “How do you stop believing all the common shit? / It’s like a hard line, man, you just get on with it.”
Amen, brother.
I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore is available at papercastles.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services. If you feel like taking a road trip, the band performs in New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island this week.