On their first EP, 2019's
Novel, Vancouver post-punk collective
N0v3l retooled the jagged, funky dissonance of past greats, adding airy guitar leads and the faintest hints of affable melodies to the danceable aggression of bands like
Gang of Four or
the Pop Group. Though the material on
N0v3l's first full-length release,
Non Fiction, was written as far back as the group's 2017 formation, the album expands on the rigid post-punk doctrine of their earlier recordings. Earlier songs were fervent blasts of nervous energy that stayed largely in the same high-intensity gear.
Non Fiction's 11 songs are more varied in their range of expression, leaning into chorus-soaked bass lines, distant blurts of saxophone, and a wider spectrum of gloomy atmospheres. The shadowy strut of "Group Disease" is built on a tight groove like many of the band's earlier tracks, but it's slower and more restrained. Gothy piano melodies swim along with brittle shards of guitar, adding a little
Seventeen Seconds energy to
N0v3l's previous
Solid Gold template. There's a newfound focus on synthesizers that comes to the forefront most dramatically on the robotic "Apath," where buzzy low-end synth tones join a sharply syncopated rhythm that recalls '80s abstract punk legends
Devo as much as later no wave acts like
Brainiac or
the Scissor Girls.
Non Fiction doesn't dull any of the infectious energy that drove
N0v3l's earlier songs, but rather distills it into more nuanced performances and more complex musical statements. Even on higher-energy moments like "Falling In Line," the song structures go to unexpected places and the arrangements are more dynamic. The band's lyrical push remains rife with societal angst and a particularly electric type of dread. By dialing back some of the nonstop forward motion on
Non Fiction,
N0v3l allows for a sharper expression of their charged sentiments, painting a picture of economic disparity and lives in crisis with a clarity that comes through in the details. ~ Fred Thomas