FIFTH SPECIES

North Carolina trio’s debut blends 70s Brit-prog with dollops of jam.

You can tell who the dominant figure is in any band by listening to which instrument is highest in the mix. So the fact that this North Carolina threepiece’s debut is smothered in keyboards signals that the man tinkling the ivories is in charge. Composer and piano teacher Jeremy Reiser named this band after a form of counterpoint harmony, and …Punch Line isn’t scared to show off the musical proficiency of the players that contributed.

Reiser seems determined that the instrumentalists should serve the song, rather than vice versa. Hence the knotty, intricately interwoven musical figures that underpin Open are the launch pad of an off-kilter pop song coloured with the male-female harmonies of Reiser and bassist Kristen Stevenson. Imagine Ben Folds playing six keyboards at once and you’re not far off. While FS are Gentle Giant fans, they’re also Deadheads partial to a jam band or two, and that comes through on Lines and Presage, which benefit from complex but infectious grooves. They’re nothing if not versatile, and the final track Elegy offers a beautifully beatific Axelrod-esque organ and guitar reverie, suggesting they’re only just beginning to explore their capabilities.