"Waiting for the Final Leaf to Fall" by Paper Route, Monday, November 15, 2021

In 2007 Paste Magazine named Paper Route "One to Watch." And while they never lived up to their potential, the Nashville band recorded music that they believed in. The band released several independent EPs before signing to Universal Records. Their debut LP Absence and remix EP Additions were released on Universal Motown. But before their major-label debut, the band released a 5-song EP titled Are We All Forgotten, a named for a song which would also appear on their debut LP. After sharing several songs on the band's MySpace page, Are We All Forgotten was released on July 8, 2008. Absence was released on April 28 the next year.

THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR. Are We All Forgotten featured big studio production the band hadn't used on their earlier EPs, Paper Route and A Thrill of Hope. The band's previous work had been more in the vein of Americana. But the complex beats and noisy synths on AWAF showed where the band was heading. Yet, the band's ear for Americana isn't completely lost. The opening track "American Clouds" features a harmonica played over a soaring synth-line. The effect on the intro to "Are We All Forgotten" sounds like it's an acoustic instrument processed through a synthesizer. And today's song, the moody "Waiting for the Final Leaf to Fall" would be an acoustic guitar ballad if it weren't for the hip-hop bass, '80s synths, heavy drumming, and '80s synths. In fact, one of the reasons I fell in love with Paper Route was their ability to translate their songs into different genres. In their early career, they would translate the studio production into an acoustic, multi-instrumental spectacular on any occasion. But for whatever reason, the band became a revolving door of musicians from album to album. Only singer JT Daly and bassist/keyboardist Chad Howat remained for the band's full career.

I'LL PROBABLY SEE YOU ON THE RUN. As fun as it was to see Paper Route performing live acoustic, the band's co-founder, guitarist/back-up vocalist Andy Smith, left the band a year after their debut LP was released. Smith released an album under the moniker Brother Leather--a weird, but oddly charming album called Meat Mural. Perhaps the band's shift into electronic music or JT's vocals rendered Smith's contribution to the band redundant or maybe it was bad blood or just a desire to do something else, but I almost lost interest in Paper Route when Smith departed. There were two reasons: the first was he was good-looking, but I listen to ugly bands, so that wasn't a real reason. The real reason, though, was I wasn't sure what to think of a band without a full-time guitarist. Today, I recognize that there are many "one-person bands." M83 and Gotye were examples of this changing sound in Alternative music, but even bands like The Classic Crime and Relient K would become just one or two regular members. Paper Route without a guitarist was an early model of this new kind of music. Music that is made in a studio and musicians are hired to perform the artist's vision. In 2010, the leaves of rock music were turning.

Read “Waiting For The Final Leaf To Fall” by Paper Route on Genius.