Mexical Blues
By: John Mabery
Rating: 9/11

I once described the sound of NOOE – the former NeveroddoreveN – to a new listener as “feel good music that doesn’t insult your intelligence.”  Well, with no offense intended to my former self, that slogan is both verbose and, a year later, outdated.  This band once specialized in a very distinctive breed of rock that was as heady as it was edgy and where the individual talents of the musicians were highlighted.  But since then, it has become apparent they are no longer that same band.  Having matured beyond their attempts to write the most grandiose songs possible and transformed into a collective being that creates some of the most inventive rock songs not being heard by the masses, NOOE will now be referred to by this reviewer as a great rock band that is constantly getting better.

NOOE has spent the better part of the past year flying under the radar of the mainstream and growing into veterans of the northern New Jersey underground.  They have brought their pummeling brand of funky blues/rock to venues such as New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom, the Stone Pony and New York’s Sullivan Hall.  They have also developed a knack for turning heads and perking up ears wherever they go.  The reason for this is simple – NOOE doesn’t have off nights.  Even when they are playing to a crowd of one or just rehearsing, this band seems incapable of phoning it in.  Singer/guitarist Jared Wohl, lead guitarist Joe Bonasorte, bassist Justin Rudolph and drummer Kyle Gagliardi are almost constantly locked in, both individually and cohesively.    

Their latest date at the famed Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, NJ was proof of just that.  The band pulled out songs from either end of their catalogue – including old favorite “Heaviest Lights” and the show-stopping “Crimson” – as well as a classic track from someone else’s collection, a blistering cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.”  Their newest track, the yet-to-be-recorded “Next In Line,” might very well be their best performance to date.  Described by lead guitarist Joe Bonasorte as “more straightforward rock,” “Line” found the band pushing themselves within their comfort zone, as opposed to beyond it, and it has resulted in a song that left the crowd screaming and applauding for several minutes after.    

Even a mechanical mishap like a broken string during “Crimson” didn’t derail the set, as Bonasorte capably soloed right on through it and finished the song and the set.  Even with a diminutive turnout due to being booked on the eve of a long holiday weekend, NOOE still played a raucous set and looked like they were having a grand time doing it.  But NOOE, one of New Jersey’s best kept secrets, can only be kept secret for so long, and it seems like only a matter of time before they play one their arena-sized sets to an arena-sized crowd.  No matter how one might define them, that much seems certain.