N0v3l

Nov3l (earlier, Novel) is another band that came out of the highly productive partnership between the Varley brothers, Jon (guitar) and Noah (bass), and Bryce Cloghesy (saxophone), who are also at the core of Crack Cloud and Painted Fruit. In this edition, the band is deeply tied to the late '70s, very early '80s bass-driven, angular post-punk with bright guitars along the lines of Gang of Four, Wire, and Television. They have an unpolished sound, with two guitars playing off of one another in a quick, nervous, jumpy way. The vocals are somewhere between singing and blurting, and the saxophone adds a whole different layer on top of all that. The songs are very strong, and they stand out without being too melodic.