I interviewed Eric Paul (most notably of Arab On Radar, whom, at the time, he wouldn’t even discuss) when The Chinese Stars unleashed themselves on the public post-AoR for a couple of albums and a really cooled star-shaped CD EP. He said, at one point:
My lyrics are never intended to be a catalyst for something. They are written for very self indulgent and personal reason[s]. I do not have the ability to be a spokesperson or a martyr for any issue. So, usually when you read something in my lyrics it is usually a result of something I am contemplating or struggling with in my life.
If what he said then is true of his most prurient release, the I Sleep With Their Bones cassette, well… good luck with that. Then again, maybe I’m sick because I’m not offended by this stuff in the first place. Hmm? Wherever the chips fall, let them be dipped in the sick spiritual salsa of a man with a lot to get off his man-chest. And would you want to listen to his spoken-word tape if he didn’t have issues? Nope. Then you wouldn’t be privy to Paul trying to fuck on cocaine, figure out a tragic relative, discern whether a woman is trying to kill him, and dealing with his parents’ drunken fighting (if they’re there at all; at one point, they’re two cardboard cutouts). As much fun as I seem to be making of all this, I think what Paul accomplishes with I Sleep With Their Bones is an important step for him at this point. As I have with all the ex-Arab On Radar boys, I give this my seal of approval because its contents are bare and exposed like any writer’s soul should be.
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