Updated When I listened to Paper Mice to preview their set at Ian's Party earlier this year, I was floored that the trio could pull off their spastic, freakish postpunk with such uncanny precision. Held together by the colorful—and flat-out unreal—drumming of John Carroll, the band seems to jump from one bizarre time signature to another with every track, all without obscuring the warped and slightly cracked melodies of guitarist-vocalist Dave Reminick and bassist Adam McCormack.

Their newest album, The Funny Papers (Three One G), is more cohesive than its predecessor, Paint It Pink, and some of the songs actually break the two-minute mark. It's still scatterbrained in the best way—it wouldn't be a Paper Mice record if it didn't push you to the edge of saying "What the hell is happening?"—but it's as unified as it is eccentric. There's some Wire in there, some Dismemberment Plan, and some Arab on Radar, all tied together with spit and Silly String.

Paper Mice play a free record-release show tonight at the Empty Bottle, and to celebrate the band has given us an exclusive stream of The Funny Papers for the Reader site. Also below is the album's vibrant, comic artwork, done by Paul Hornschemeier. (If you click on each image to enlarge it, then right-click and select "view image," you can get a version large enough to read easily.)

Update: Your time's up, slackers. Buy the album already!