After pushing the needle well into the red on 2016's mighty
No Grace,
PAWS scale back with
Your Church on My Bonfire, the Scottish trio's contemplative fourth album. A tumultuous three-year gap marred by personal loss, broken relationships, and a membership change separates the two releases, deeply coloring the latter. In just under a decade together, founding members
Phillip Taylor (vocals, guitar) and
Josh Swinney (drums) have swayed musically between '90s-inspired fuzz-pop, dark-hued indie rock, and muscular pop-punk, working with three different bassists along the way, the most recent of whom,
John Bonnar, makes his debut on this outing.
PAWS' evolution this time around is an overall softer one; the transformative bruises of emotional upheaval are steadfastly met, but in a more refined way than before. The death of
Taylor's father and his reconciliation of their often-stormy relationship is the subject of "What We Want," the slowly building heartfelt anthem that opens the album. An earthy, poetic tone that is equal parts post-punk and jangling college rock marks other standouts like "The Watering Hole" and "Like an Injured Fawn," both of which are reminiscent at times of mid-'80s
R.E.M., especially in the way that
Taylor's keening brogue mirrors
Michael Stipe's Southern drawl. A pair of acoustic-led numbers adds further depth with Meredith and the Hawk's
Meredith Godreau adding an airy, rustic sweetness to the album's penultimate number, "The Slow Sprint." Earnest, honest, and more vulnerable than anything they've done before,
Your Church on My Bonfire is an impressive leap for
PAWS as well as a career highlight.