Paper Castles - I'm Sad as Hell and I'm Not Going to Fake It Anymore (WHITE CASSETTE)

Format: Cassette, Color Cassette
Catalogue No.: CS-SIPS-009C
Barcode: 634457207530
Release Date: 09 May 2025
Genre: Indie & Lo-Fi

I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore is the best, sharpest, briefest, and fourth record from Paper Castles, the band fronted by Jericho, Vermont’s Paddy Reagan. In one way, it’s a simple and modest collection of nine fuzzy guitar-led pop songs. The title, a play on the iconic scene from Network (written by Paddy Chayefsky), can be clocked as nothing more than that at first glance, playful. But like the music behind it, Reagan thinks you can sit with the title if you want.

I'm Sad as Hell... was tracked by Benny Yurco (Michael Nau, Lily Seabird, Robber Robber) in a little over eight hours across two days, a testament to the quartet’s perfection of these songs on stage, and to Yurco’s comfortable Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington. Tompkins and Mangan lock into a wonderful foundation for Kitz’s lolling guitar lines on “Clean + Organized,” while on “Avalon,” the band sings harmony for the most ironic line in the waltz (“We don’t really want company”) before their instruments explode into technicolor. “Lying Here” showcases PC deftly navigating washed out verses and tight knit, twangy choruses, all in a tidy, under-three minute package.

Lyrically, Reagan is at his finest: playful and savage, biting and beautiful. Double entendres and clever wordplay abound—a line like “it's not the ideals but the high heels that’ll make you a man” from “Modern Myth” will make you wish John Prine was still around to hear it. On “Name Changer,” when Reagan sings “I’ll never change my name again / Got a real good handle and I don’t want to give it in,” what kind of “handle” is he referring to? I’d like to think Elvis Costello would smile at most lines in the Attractions rave-up “Content Creator.”

A1. Content Creator  A2. Clean + Organized  A3. Name Changer  A4. I’m Alright  A5. Avalon  A6. Modern Myth  A7. Young in a Hurry  A8. Lying Here  A9. Hey Bobby  B1. Content Creator  B2. Clean + Organized  B3. Name Changer  B4. I’m Alright  B5. Avalon  B6. Modern Myth  B7. Young in a Hurry  B8. Lying Here  B9. Hey Bobby