Free and legal MP3 from Paper Route (majestic, wistful, full-bodied rock w/ electronic fuzz)

"Thank God The Year Is Finally Over" - Paper Route
     A bracing blend of majesty and wistfulness, from its direct and poignant title straight through to an unexpected appearance by a harmonica in the outro. (The harmonica is surely one of music's most wistful instruments.) There's enough fuzz and noise along the way for shoegaze fans to appreciate but not enough to overwhelm the song's simple but effective melody (note how the long descending line of the chorus sounds nicely late-December-ish), not to mention the octave harmonies in the vocals. (I love me my octave harmonies--that is, when the harmony vocal is the same note but one octave higher or lower.)
     This band surely aims for a big-hearted sound, and yet more than ever, it seems, there's a fine line between a band with big heart and a band with a shallow heart. Somehow. The fact that these guys are touring with the curiously popular Owl City doesn't help the "big heart" case but listening with my ears (a good practice), I find something splendid in this smartly-paced piece of expansive, electronic-tinged rock. And that harmonica surprises every time.
     Paper Route is a quartet from Nashville; their debut full-length CD, Absence, was released on Universal Records in April 2009. "Thank God The Year Is Finally Over" is from a free Christmas EP the band released in December. MP3 via Spinner. (The entire EP is available as a zip file here.)