NO AGE - NOUNS No Age: the name alone suggests multiple meanings and possible interpretations—timeless, ageless, anonymous, free from restriction, something positive from something negative… a profound strength in its simplicity. Likewise, the Los Angeles duo consisting of drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall is many things at once even as it embraces its minimalism.
No Age prefers to perform in unique venues: the LA River Basin, a public library, book stores, an Ethiopian restaurant, all to foster new ways to experience live music outside of traditional bar/club settings. This is the kind of band that inspires its audience without affectation, without cynicism. Their stark DIY art-is-life live shows are an exploration of possibilities: a guitar laid over a resonating drum head, effect loops woven together like beautiful harmonies, pop songs as performance art, a duo that sounds like the gale force of rock history delivered through a wind tunnel. No Age’s Sub Pop debut, Nouns, is succinctly all-encompassing, from the faux-simplicity of the title to the beautiful distortion of its sound to the packaging that includes a 68-page full-colour book packed with photos and art pieces. In keeping with the title, the visual component depicts many people, places and things, all of which have particular relevance to the music itself. No Age issued a slew of singles on a variety of indie labels in 2007, resulting in the tellingly cohesive compendium, Weirdo Rippers on Fat Cat Records later that year. That widely heralded release set the stage for Nouns. Recorded by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Sound from October to December of 2007, the album opens with a symphony of noise (both Dean and Randy use samples alongside their main instruments) and creeps and/or smashes through a sonic headlock befitting Daydream Nation-era Sonic Youth, Kiwi pop, power pop, My Bloody Valentine, and experimental noise. “No Age is a band,” says Spunt. “Bands should be fun and exciting and they should push all the buttons at the same time. They should make you feel like you are going to explode and make you utterly confused and inspired at the same time. At least they should.” Happily, as a band (and even as people), No Age does exactly that. Nouns release date 3rd of May, 2008 Posted: Friday, 28 March 2008 |