At some point, I'm not exactly sure when, I decided a potentially achievable task would be to try and find everything The Paper Chase had put out. I'd been collecting records by the Manics for years and was starting to get bored - there were way too many and it would never be complete (at best, I think I had a version of every song they'd put out on at least one format). The Paper Chase however had potential - I couldn't get enough of their music and they hadn't released all that much. In fact, the only really difficult records were this one and a split cd with e-Class and Lugsole (unless there are more that I'm unaware of!).
Anyway, whilst I was living in Australia I found some guy on eBay selling this copy of ...And the Machines Are Winning and jumped at the chance to get it, despite £10 being an awful lot of money to a student on a year abroad. I won the bid and a short while later it was mine. I can't imagine there are too many people with Paper Chase collections, but I suspect this is missing from most, which is a shame because it's incredible. (A few weeks later I noticed the same guy was also selling the split cd so I picked that up too).
Musically, it's as fantastically jarring and awkward as anything else they'd go on to make. Both sides are kept going by the drums, and build up using increasingly strained vocals, jagged guitars and pianos. To this day I have no idea if What I'd Like to Do to You Now and At the Moment When the Gear Slips are two songs or just one (I also wonder if the label is printed the wrong way around), but the screams of "I need control" are perfect. Both (all three?) of these songs are great examples of why I love this band so much.
Format: 7", gatefold
Tracks: 2
Cost: £10.50 second hand
Bought: eBay
When: 11/10/05
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
