John Reuben

"Dear Diary," begins John Reu with a kooky first-day-of-school-skip in his step. He promises innovation and makes good with ska-esque vocal inflection in his rhymes and a near 180 from his debut style: less fluid musicality and gravity, traded for a quirky, Old-Navy-commercial sense of humor, wily lyrics and sampling that skirts a retro Dragnet vs. Beach Boys sound.