John Reuben's talent and potency seems to grow exponentially with each project. New album "Word of Mouth" comes on strong with smokin' lyrics and sizzling perspective.
“Word of Mouth” starts off with a wild west feel, “Sing It Like You Mean It,” featuring a lonely surf guitar riff under his playful, insightful lyrics. The poppin’ second track “Trying Too Hard” is strewn with lyrical techno-fill and slammin’ beats, but the rousing sounds never overwhelm Reuben’s powerful commentary on the club scene and its games and traps. By the end of this track your jaw is dropping at Reuben’s wordsmith chops; the man is a lyricist extraordinaire, no two ways about it. He continues to call out the wanna-bes and the pretenders, always with gentle irony.
“Make Money Money” showcases Reuben’s clever arranging chops as well as his straight-up advocacy for truth. Laced with electric guitar and banjo, this eclectic standout track takes on the wolves of today’s rap scene, pulling no punches. Mixing it up is the ambient, fuzzy experimentalism of “Focus,” and the thick bouncy hooks of the title track, not to mention the throbbing, bubbling sonic stew that is “Miserable Exaggeration,” an atmospheric pot of muted horns, foreign language snippets, and tongue-tripping lyrics. The rich diversity of “Word of Mouth” showcases well the mad genius of John Reuben.
“Curiosity” contains the signature Reuben self-deprecation, winning us over as always with both his humor and his humility, as well as the rock solid bass line, funk guitar hooks, and pumping rhythms of the thoughtful standout track. It’s more rich experimentation with the industrial sounds and beats of the challenging “Cool the Underdog.”
“Word of Mouth” closes with the pumping, almost disco beats of “Good Evening,” its catchy falsetto chorus hooky enough to get the most cynical listener out of his chair. John Reuben’s fifth album only makes you want more of his sly hipster talents, and his creative drive will most likely bring us this satisfaction, as he promises numerous videos in support of “Word of Mouth,” and has even been working on a 9-minute pilot featuring a satirical alter-ego that will show up eventually on TV, if there’s any justice in the entertainment world. Here’s hoping, but in the meantime, the intelligent, edgy “Word of Mouth, ” releasing February 6, will carry us over nicely.
