Story: Ralph Greco, Jr.
Boston’s ethereal indie band Paper Lady returns with its third single, “Joe Modern,” out Friday, April 11, alongside an original music video written and directed by guitarist Rowan Martin. The single is the final preview ahead of the band’s debut full-length album Idle Fate, arriving May 9.
A thematic outlier on the record, “Joe Modern” pulls from real-life absurdity: a scamming realtor who inspired the band’s most kinetic track to date. What began as a joke became a tightly wound post-punk anthem that retains Paper Lady’s signature dreamy textures while veering confidently into new territory.
“We kept joking that we should write a song about this guy – and then Rowan brought this wild guitar riff to rehearsal, and the rest just fell into place,” shares vocalist Alli Raina. “The lyrics came to me instantly. It’s the most fun song to play live, and I think it helped us evolve our sound in a huge way.”
Produced by Harley Spring and Abbey Franz of Digital Awareness, the video blends the surreal and the sinister, following a haunted businessman through dreamlike torment at the hands of his boss and a sleep paralysis demon.
With the full-length album on the horizon, “Joe Modern” marks a shift in the band’s sonic palette – bringing in post-punk influences like Kleenex, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Model/Actriz – while amplifying their fantastical storytelling and emotional edge.
For more information, visit PaperLadyMusic.com and Linktr.ee/paperladymusic.
ABOUT PAPER LADY:
Paper Lady is an indie dream-rock outfit conjuring enchanting, immersive soundscapes from their home base in Boston, MA. Born in the depths of the Northeast DIY scene in 2019, the band has since become a spellbinding force in the world of ethereal rock and noisy freak folk.
The core lineup includes Alli Raina (vocals, primary songwriter, rhythm guitar), Rowan Martin (lead guitar), Alex Castile (drums) and Taylor Morris (bass), each contributing to the band’s alchemical blend of sound and performance.
With influences spanning Mazzy Star, Broadcast, and Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic explorations, Paper Lady crafts a unique sound that blends dreamy textures with grounded storytelling. Their previous EP, While You Should Be Sleeping, and tracks like “Absentee” and “Return to the Lake” established them as a standout act in the Allston basement show scene, while Idle Fate promises to push their sound into more experimental territory.
In 2024, the band wrote and recorded their debut full-length album, Idle Fate, during a retreat in a cabin in upstate New York and at their shared home in Brighton, MA. Self-recorded and self-mixed, the album explores themes of grief, love and fantastical existentialism.
Beyond Paper Lady, the band members are prolific creatives in their own right, pursuing solo projects and collaborating with other acts. Their collective artistry makes Paper Lady a true creative community, redefining the boundaries of indie rock and dream pop, and in 2023 the band was nominated for ‘Alt/Indie Artist of the Year’ at the Boston Music Awards. For fans of boundary-pushing music that feels both mystical and deeply human, Paper Lady offers an unforgettable journey.
Ralph Greco, Jr. is the devilishly clever nom de plume of professional writer/musician Ralph Greco who lives in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. He is also a podcast co-host, but as everyone has a podcast these days, this fact is of very little consequence.
Ralph can be reached by writing ralphiedawriter@gmail.com
Follow us on twitter, tik tok, instagram: @emmreport
