Paper the Operator, aka Jon Sebastian and an ever changing backup band, make incredibly creative, uplifting and diverse indie pop, the likes of which has fallen out of fashion since its late 90’s, early 00’s heyday. Rather than making "Goodbye God" sound like a remnant from a lost time however, it’s refreshing to hear a slice of primarily happy alt rock for a change.

Paper the Operator has now taken on the mantle of all of Sebastian’s previous solo work (he is also a member of Colour Wheels, a similar outfit in which he plays with his wife) and he comes across as a prolific songwriter with a boundless set of ideas and energy for producing them. Written, performed and recorded as a solo effort, “Goodbye God” leaps through each song at a fast pace, with barely a gap between (often very different) songs, which seems to reflect Sebastian’s attitude towards his work in general. He has so many ideas that’s he’s dying to experiment, with that every second is precious, there can never be enough time, hence the need for speed felt throughout “Goodbye God”.

Opener ‘Please Proceed’ is a gentle song, a one man and his guitar type which does not represent the content of the rest of the album. It seems a strange choice to lead with, the only reasoning behind the choice presumably being the title / main lyric as an invitation to proceed with the rest of the album. So when ‘I Get Around’ jumps in with a full collection of electric guitars, drums and synth, with a fifties inspired melody, it turns out to be a bit of a surprise. But then, that seems to be the main objective here, flipping through a variety of often opposed feelings which have little linking them together apart from their creator and performer.

The opening synths on ‘Days of Thunder’ remind me a bit of the tune from Super Mario (the proper old school one, not Mario the Snowboarder or whatever his latest incarnation is). Thankfully, it’s used sparingly and the speed of the singing and the lyrics about divorce and betrayal swiftly rescues it from the association.


‘Pendulum’ cranks in with a heavy, mechanical, industrial sound. The almost intrusive sounding synth and electronic drums build and just as you’re really getting into the melody as the vocals kick in (during what ordinarily would be the chorus), it ends abruptly, which is a shame. It’s brief and sharp, like it’s lyrics about the unpredictability of fate, but I can’t help feeling it would benefit from a bit more substance.

Fond of simplistic rhymes, especially in the more upbeat numbers like ‘Buddy Baby’ and ‘Laundrolux’, Sebastian creates soundbites to represent his songs with lines like "Your heart is neon pink, I don’t know what to think". Here and in the brief but brilliant, ‘Chemistry Set’ is really where Paper the Operator create the kind of Indie pop which would have made the soundtrack of the better examples of high school films around the Millennium. These little slices of Americana are brief enough that they can be appreciated without becoming annoying.

One of the main reasons for the difference in tone between songs is slightly haphazard production. On several occasions the fragility of Sebastian’s singing is overwhelmed by the crashing effects of electronica, guitars and drums. On certain tracks, like ‘The Pendulum’ and ‘Buddy Baby’ which uses distorted, fuzzy mics, it is obvious that this was a conscious decision. However on ‘Days of Thunder’ and the slow burner ‘In a Pickle’, there are moments where instead of enhancing each other, the vocals and music compete. ‘Rock Dreams’ proves that Paper the Operator can deliver strong, powerful vocals and music simultaneously, so this oversight is particularly disappointing.

There’s a possibility that Sebastian and Paper the Operator have missed the boat in regards to the current popularity of the type of music they excel at creating, they definitely do not deserve to be written off because of this though. Their mix of Americana Indie pop and gentle, heartfelt ballads may in fact benefit from the downturn in that particular market; they are the only emerging act of this variety that I’ve heard in a long time. Definitely worth a listen, especially if your Weezer or Semisonic albums are getting a bit tired by now.