COMMA

Five virtuosi hailing from Chicago are back with their third album, this one a little shorter than the previous two, and having diverged even further from the Post Rock/Math Rock roots they began with. Where 2018's Raytracing showed a clear propensity for exploring a more jazz direction, this album, Comma, completes the commitment: Monobody are playing complex, melodic, virtuosic jazz-rock fusion compositions that are on a level with anything the Pat Metheny Group ever made.

1. "Eighty Eight" (4:38) with an opening using a complex time signature compatible with a Pat Metheny Group or Toe song, Monobody announce from the get-go their jazz-rock fusion preferences. Piano, basses, drums, and the dextrous WES MONTGOMERY-like guitar fingering style of Conor Mackey all weave their individual magic into a wonderfully impressive and, at the same time, engaging song. (9.5/10)

2. "Sylphina" (4:23) opening with a flurry--like a Jazz Crusaders' song--the piano, bass, and keyboard interplay is exquisite and intricate. In the second minute things smooth down into a dreamy, pastoral passage with a greater synth-keyboard presence than we're used to hearing from the band. Collin Clauson and Al Costis are trying their hands at being the band's Chick Corea and/or Lyle Mays! There's even quite a little STEELY DAN here, as well. (9/10)

3. "Cloudless Sulphur" (5:53) opening with a synth-wash bleed-in from the previous song, guitar and keys duet delicately to open. At 0:55 a TOE-like bass-and-guitar combine to great effect as the synth and drums support from the background. Then at 2:43, a flange-funked bass line takes over with the drummer and OZRIC TENTACLES-like space-synth sounds filling space as the guitar feels his way around in the in-between. At 4:05 we break again, into a cool four-part weave--drums, synth, guitar, and bass all feeling as if they are exploring their own pathways--until they all come back together at 4:42 (with increased distortion and amperage to the two-tracked riffing guitar). Cool journey--almost psychedelic. (8.75/10)

4. "Atala" (3:20) the most straightforward jazz song on the album thus far--possibly made so by the dominant piano jazz chord play throughout. It's fast, intricate, and complex. Pat and Lyle would be quite proud!. (9/10)

5. "Mimic" (4:15) opens as if a Tony Levin class étude. More intricate jazziness, fast multiple instrumental runs and soli (bass, George Benson-like jazz guitar, Donald Fagen-like Fender Rhodes). Cool JAN AKKERMAN-like guitar chord sequence 2:30-2:45! More chordal and melodic reminders of Steely Dan in that fourth minute. (9/10)

6. "Harvester" (3:53) more sensitive, slow-tempoed arpeggiated jazz chord work in both the sparse passages and the full-band sections. Again, I am somehow reminded of the melodic and atmospheric genius of the Japanese band TOE here. As horn-like synths join and build their presence in the third minute I am reminded of NuJazz band JAGA JAZZIST. Nice! (9/10)

7. "Phaon Crescent" (6:40) probably the most impressive-sounding song on the album--and most mature--despite the fact the band seem to be pandering for a melodic "hook" from the very opening notes--one that is established by the guitarist by the end of the first minute before going off into a very Pat Metheny Group-like passage for the bulk of the second minute. It's great music--and great musicianship--jazz-rock at its very highest--and it's followed up with some more subtle Donald Fagen-isms in the third minute (from the piano, of course)--which is great--and then developing into the Lyle and Pat show for the fourth--I just want my Monobody to be more distinctively themselves. Great, great passage from 3:45 to 4:30! (9.5/10)

Total Time 33:02

I've figured out that the feelings of "disappointment" I've been having as I listen to this album are caused by the fact that, for the first time, I am hearing lots of similarities to other bands and other influences, whereas on Monobody and Raytracing I was being completely blown away by the utterly unique sound and stylings I was hearing. Maybe these influences and styles were present and I was not hearing them, but now they are quite obvious to me. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE this album--and I love the direction/evolution the band are choosing; I do not like the fact that hearing some of these songs out of context--i.e. in a random playlist--I will at times be thinking I'm listening to a song by Pat Metheny & Lyle mays, Toe, or even Steely Dan or Unaka Prong--none of which are a bad thing (I love all of the music of the afore-mentioned bands) but not exclusively unique to MONOBODY.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of jazz-rock fusion--and in the hunt for Album the Year honors as my favorite album that I've heard, so far.

Monobody is a band that exists in a blurry borderland between jazz fusion and math rock, and this album comfortably sits right in the middle between the two genres, combining fast, complicated melodic lines on clean guitars with freedom to improvise in between the strictly composed sections as well as a bouncy, jazzy rhythm section (the band has two bassists and I'm not sure who did what exactly but the bass playing on this album is particularly excellent). Collin Clauson accompanies the band aptly with his piano and synthesizer, with his most prominent moment being on "Atala" where he plays some cool doublings and call-and-response bits with the guitar, but it's guitarist Conor Mackey (whose guitar tone walks a line between the cleanness and [mostly] lack of reverb that's typical of math rock, and the lack of treble that's typical of traditional jazz guitar playing) who's really the main star on the album and whose instrument is right at the forefront in the mix all the time.

"Sylphina" is the most convincing synthesis of the two genres, starting with some clean guitar chords, followed by a very pretty main theme played by a double-tracked Mackey playing harmonics in one layer and arpeggios in another, interspersed with some open spaces for the guitar, bass and keyboards to solo. It is the highlight of the album, along with "Cloudless Sulphur", which starts off quiet and down-to-earth before changing pace halfway through and gradually becoming faster and more intense, growing from a synthy shuffle into a manic heavy rocker, with drummer Nnamdi Ogbonnaya really doing an impressive number on his cymbals. The opening and closing tracks are in themselves an excellent sampler of what the album is like, with unusual chord progressions and weird guitar parts played in broken, constantly changing rhythms, interchanged by beautiful, catchy main themes. "Mimic" is the most jazzy song on the album and is mostly dedicated to a virtuosic guitar jam that's vaguely reminiscent of bands such as Cab or Tribal Tech, while "Harvester" is a slower, more contemplative piece to soften the listener up in preparation of the grand finale.

The album's short length is a pity, but this is nonetheless a highly recommended gem of instrumental music that's sure to keep you on your toes.