Dragline

by Alex HendersonDragline was recorded in Madison, WI, but Paw's influences are pure Seattle. Very much a grunge album, Dragline comes out of the Nirvana/Pearl Jam school of alternative rock and finds Paw fluctuating between the musical and the forceful. On such tunes as "Sleeping Bag" and "The Bridge," substantial melodies and harmonies contrast nicely with punk-like outbursts and metallic intensity. Like Pearl Jam, Paw can bring to mind Neil Young, Black Flag and Metallica within the course of a single song. To be sure, Paw's writing isn't in a class with that of Nirvana or Pearl Jam -- Dragline is hardly a CD that one should choose over Nirvana's In Utero or Pearl's Ten. But it's generally competent, if overly derivative.