Paper Route: Absence

Paper Route carries the synthesizer torch. Listening to Absence, I thought, “This is what New Order was trying to do.” A few decades ago, Paper Route would have been buried in Erasures, Depeche Modes, Pet Shop Boys, and Duran Durans. The synth pop forest has since been denuded; even some of the pioneers have switched genres. Now Paper Route is the best thing on the scene. Why are they the torchbearers? Because they get it right. The sound is right and the songs are right. Their style is complex, yet restrained, precise, yet impassioned. They’re ushering the new new wave.

Rating: * * * * *