The Paps are playing the Park Theatre this Saturday, Oct. 10. The four girls in the band, who formed under the ballsy moniker The Papsmears when they were in Grade 8, are now adults. Perhaps this is why going in, there was a slight expectation that the girls may have matured since their formative high school years. This is not the case. Admittedly, their sound is as tight as ever and the album’s producer, Brandon Friesen, deserves due credit. Don’t get me wrong: The Paps can play their instruments well. It’s just that the music sounds like it should be featured in a teen comedy, not a rock club. This band has potential to be rock stars, but the songs, lyrically as well as rhythmically, need guts. Guts is what made other brash riff-rockers, from the Clash, to Blondie, to Sleater-Kinney, great. So Paps, show us you’ve got guts, we know you’ve got them in you.

Published in Volume 64, Number 6 of The Uniter (October 8, 2009)