“The list of numbers to call from the yearbook is small / Look for something to do, you think the problem is you / SNL on TV, the new Weezer is green / VCR set to tape, rewatch it day after day.”

So sings Nathan Honoré on “Parochial Tween,” a stunning coming-of-age standout from the Milwaukee singer-songwriter’s third (and final?) LP under his Next Paperback Hero moniker, Better Late Than Never. It’s a presumably autobiographical song set in a specific time and place—Weezer’s “Green Album” was released in 2001—yet its themes of finding yourself amidst school-age loneliness and confusion should resonate with any generation. “Burn your brother’s CDs: Rage Against The Machine, The Ataris, White Stripes,” sings Honoré. Insert the music you discovered from an older sibling or friend here.

That universal specificity is sprinkled throughout Better Late Than Never. Opener “Back To Boston” finds Honoré desperate to escape the summer-festival-and-Harley-clogged streets of Milwaukee for Boston, but unwilling to settle for anything less than a direct flight. (“Would it be too Midwest of me to say ‘Let’s drive’ and claim it’s easier?”) The bitter “This One,” meanwhile, sets Honoré firmly “in the Heartland” as he says goodbye to someone headed west.

Comings, goings, and the spaces in between pop up throughout the record, too. The world-weary “Fork In The Road,” the plainspoken “So They Say,” and the gentle “Reno” all explore various states of being. “Moving out two weeks from now, you won’t believe the job I found,” sings Honoré in his soothing baritone on the latter song. “Said it once or twice before, I know I know / But now I’m one foot out the door.” With only Honoré’s voice, his acoustic guitar, and some sundry backing instruments as guides, the entire album (recorded on a cassette four-track and mastered by Josh Evert at Silver City Studios) feels like a well-worn map in a world of impersonal GPS.

With the New Year’s Day release of Better Late Than Never, Honoré says he’s “pushing ‘pause'” on Next Paperback Hero. “I wanted to stop on my terms and I feel a great sense of completion and contentment about what I’ve accomplished,” he writes. “I don’t know if it’s the end, but it’s where I am right now.” If this is indeed the end, it’s a lovely sendoff. If it’s not, perhaps it’s just another fork in the road.

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Co-Founder and Editor

Matt Wild weighs between 140 and 145 pounds. He lives on Milwaukee's east side.