Often, the downfall of indie rock is that it sounds amateurish. It is frequently the sound of people learning to play their instruments, but what’s obvious on Rock Beats Paper is how accomplished these bands are. The City Life is the most conventional band, making new wave pop with the usual instrumentation. The other songs are clearly composed by bands working with a host of instruments—Rotary Downs, Antenna Inn, Big Blue Marble—or a ProTools rig’s worth of tracks—Theresa Andersson, MyNameIsJohnMichael. Consequently, there’s an appealing collective ambition evident in this compilation released by the New Orleans Indie Rock Collective. Fortunately, the ambition is matched with a fair degree of musical seriousness and sense, so even the most out piece by the Other Planets—the Zappa-esque “Will You Adhere?”—has a measure of musically rewarding dimension and pop sense. It would be nice if this compilation helps these bands get attention because unlike the artists featured on some similar, well-meant compilations reflecting indie scenes past, this lot’s making strong, professional music.