You may be well versed in kraut-rock, but how’s your form in the kraut-punk genre? Up to scratch? Mine certainly wasn’t, until Swedish lads Paper chucked out this very cool disc called An Object.

The sound is based around thin, stringy punk rock guitar playing basic three chord loops, and then weaves this through with chintzy analogue synths and snappy, drum machine-sounding percussion. Over the top comes the edgy, slightly trashy vocal of mostly simple lyrical phrases chopped up and spread through with care. Trance-like repetition is the order of the day here, and the songs build and pulse around the most basic of riffs, yet the way the synths and guitar blend to subtly build the tracks up from nothing is really tastefully (and skilfully) done.

Album opener ‘Out of it Into it’ kicks off the record with a bit of brooding, castlevania-style synth, before the thrashy guitar riff kicks in and the spat-out vocal refrain picks up the listener with the songs pulsing energy. It’s a fairly conventional punk-rock start to what is a less than conventional record.

‘Before That Day’ starts to get a bit more abstract and a whole lot more cool. One of the strongest tracks on this album, this edgy, brooding little ditty gets by on a gorgeous transistor sounding guitar riff, and the interplay of the synth and the crashing cymbals works this song into a driving and uplifting vibe that is awash with nervous energy. A cracking good track.

The body of this record is its weakest section. After a strong start, the consistency begins to drop a little. While ‘To Her’ and ‘My Life is going Under’ are melodically strong and vibrant, tracks such as ‘Hit the Floor’ and ‘Aphid’ are less so, and feel less multi-dimensional than the other songs here. Also the five minute instrumental ‘Strider’- while well-constructed and thoughtful- should still probably have been chopped out in the interests of album flow.

If the middle section is weakened by a few inconsistent tracks, the final four songs of An Object really hit the mark, and sell this disc to the listener for many repeated listens.

‘Our So Long’ opens with some creepy, ‘Tubular Bells’-style keys, which compliments the deeper guitar tone as well as the deeper, more melodic vocal to perfection. This song- though lush and dark in feel- is almost a pop song in the way it weaves melodic vocal hooks through the music. Another strong track.

‘Why Don’t You Try it with Him’ is one of the most balls-out punk moments on the album and is purely and simply awesome. Atmospheric synths and backing vocals only serve to pick this song up and lift it up higher into the stratosphere of good, energetic vibes.

‘Rotting AOTW’ succeeds despite an awful synth tone, which leaves the serene ‘Ideal Plane’ to see out the record on a gentle melodic note. Less punky and more poppy, this song hears the vocals taking control and leading the song into sweet, slightly melancholy pop oblivion, and is a classy finish to a classy record.

With the exception of a small group of weaker tracks strewn through the middle of this record, Paper has produced a very stylish, very cool and very fun album on An Object that, despite its classic punk leanings, isn’t aggressive or threatening so much as engaging and uplifting. My only other criticism goes to the synths on this disc. Although the synths work well enough, they could work a lot better with a greater variation in tones. This is an album that uses repetition heavily, and though it’s rarely boring, the too-consistent synth tone does grate in moments.

But that’s mostly petty stuff. An Object is strong and interesting work, and I hope it does well for the lads from Paper. Check it out and wrap your own head around the ‘kraut-punk’ genre.