Paramount Styles
Mercury Lounge, 12.21.08

Some musicians ride through their careers on the success of past projects, without really producing anything of value for years. This is not the case with Scott McCloud. During the 90s, his band Girls Against Boys were one of the definitive alternative bands. They hardly get the credit these days, with the 90s seemingly belonging to The Pixies, Pavement, Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, but you can hear their influence all over modern indie rock.

Since Girls Against Boys disbanded, lead singer/guitarist McCloud has moved to New York and has been working on his solo project, Paramount Styles. Despite his past success, an excellent record and an all star backing band that includes members of Enon, GvsB’s, and Antony & the Johnsons, Paramount Styles has remained deep below the radar.

Sunday night, they played at Mercury Lounge to a very small crowd that braved the bitter cold. Though the heavy sludge rock of GvsB’s is behind him, McCloud’s very distinct voice remains as strong as very. Playing like an acoustic Girls Against Boys, singing about his crazy past, Paramount Styles is for anyone who’s ever partied too hard and now just needs to relax and have a beer. Julia Kent’s cello playing last night was an added bonus to the set, particularly on “More Than Alive.”