Editors' Picks: Editor's Picks: Carpenter, Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Brian: Vancouver's Carpenter have one huge collective mancrush on John Cougar Mellencamp. Seriously. Look at their MySpace page. Whether it's ironic or not, a certain level of down-home Americana certainly comes through in an otherwise melodic and fluid punk rock sound, and consequently, those who fell in love with last year's Marriage by Attack in Black should quite easily flock to Carpenter's new album, Law of the Land. The album was released this past Tuesday via Smallman Records. If you need more motivation to check them out, perhaps it'll pique your interest to know their alumnus includes By a Thread, All State Champion and Daggermouth.
Jesse: The words "soul revivalist" usually tend to conjure shudders and shrugs amongst music nerds, along with utterances of "Amy Winehouse?" from the masses. But there's a new boy in town by the name of Eli "Paperboy" Reed who's music rings true to the soul, R&B, and Spectorish pop of the late 50s and early 60s. With a slew of tracks up on the boy's MySpace page, one would think it would be hard to pick a favie; not so, however, as "Take My Love With You" takes the cake (incidentally, this is the cake I brought for an 'Org editor's picnic, sorry dudes, it's been stolen). Starting out with a shrieking howl and some bluesy riffs, the song breaks down into one of the most hip-shakin'-est tracks of the decade. And he's pretty easy on the eyes too.