Long Overdue Reciprocation

I pride myself upon my ability to wade through the crap in the current music scene and find the "diamonds in the rough", but I must admit that even music snobs need a kick in the ass once in awhile to really make us open our ears.

Take for example the Reciprocations EP by the Novel Citizen. This little album is filled with anything but little sounds, and is exactly the kick in the ass that I needed to realize what a talented band The Novel Citizen is. Below I'll go through a play-by-play of the tracks you'll find on Reciprocations, but before I move forward, I want to make it perfectly clear that the Novel Citizen is a Michigan quintet that everyone wants on their radar. They balance a sound that is both reminescent of post-punk, but with more originality and spunk than can be found in the sounds of the Interpol copy-cats that currently pollute the airwaves. Without further ado, let's get to the music:

"A Matter of Choice" is the kind of song that's a bit of a surprise. It's layered in a way that makes it perfect for radio-play, but also gives it some nice surprises, like the harmonies on the chorus, and the strong and steady bass-line. The horns at the end of the song, and the playful guitar sounds culminate near the end of the song in a pre-finale blast that reminds me of the Beatles. Not to say that the Novel Citizen really sounds the like the Fab Four, but the band's ability to combine pop music with the cutting edge definitely brings the Beatles to mind.

"False Front" starts off sounding so different from "A Matter of Choice" that I was a little confused, but the more I listen to "False Front" the more I start to hear the Novel Citizen's little idiosyncrasies. First, I have to address that bass again, sometimes it sounds really straight-ahead and other times really funky, like a slap/funk hybrid. The horns make a second appearance, which I find just awesome (I mean how often do you hear real horns in a rock band?). "False Front" combines all of these eccentric little elements to create a song full of originality. With all of these funky elements thrown together I can't help but hear the Talking Heads. The song is just so interesting, it's definitely musical brain-food, and that's probably why it reminds me of New York art-rock.

"Is A Vibe" really throws out that post-punk sound for the first time on Reciprocations. Although on the first run-through this song sounds kind of musically bland, when I really started to listen to the lyrics, I realized that the band is doing something really clever. On "Is A Vibe", the Novel Citizen seems to be poking fun at that robotic sound that's currently so popular. It's really pretty amusing and fun, the complete opposite of bland.

"Only" is such a cool sounding song, that I almost feel as if I'm in a room with the Novel Citizen (or maybe more like they're playing the personal soundtrack to my life). Again, the band keeps it's unique sound without becoming inaccessible and obtuse. It's anytime music that paints a pretty picture in your subconscious, but with a depth that you can plunge to when you're ready to start thinking.

"Warmlight" is a nice sound transition from "Only", because they're probably the two songs that sound most alike on the whole album. "Warmlight" takes that twinge of otherworldliness that you feel when listening to "Only" and blows it up to anthemic proportions. A nice finale, pulling all of the funky and fresh elements of the rest of the EP into a musical tapestry (it even has some of those freaky Pink Floyd whisper-mutters; quiet enough that you can't really understand what the speakers are saying, but loud enough that you can hear outlines of the words.) It's a really nice finish, and it leaves the listener with a sense of satisfaction, but not of sickness from over-listening.

Luckily more music should be on the way soon. I've heard some demos that the Novel Citizen have put together recently, and they're all as varied, interesting, and most importantly, enjoyable as the Reciprocations EP. In all honesty, I've been mulling over this music for longer than a week, just enjoying the landscapes that this band takes the listener through. The sound is excellent, and I would recommend it to any fan of good music.