Reviewed :: No Age - Everything In Between

No Age 101: Since forming in 2005 out of the ashes of the hardcore leaning Wives, No Age have purveyed a hybrid of noise, fuzz, ambient drone, and grimy pop hooks to great effect. In 2007 the duo of Randy Randall and Dean Spunt released the impressive Weirdo Rippers on FatCat, a collection of the bands early EP's and singles. During this time No Age were fixtures at L.A.'s all ages venue The Smell where they evolved into formidable live act, that was all too clear when No Age paid a visit to Boston in the fall of 2007 to play P.A.'s Lounge. Just a few months later the band issued their first proper full length, Nouns via new and current label Sub-Pop. Nouns delivered on the promise of Weirdo Rippers with a perfect collection of explosive fuzzed out rock, that showcased the bands understated pop sensibilities and with last years Losing Feeling EP the band hinted at things to come over 4 inspired tracks.

With Everything In Between the brand new long player from No Age the band pick up where they left off with Nouns and last years Losing Feeling EP respectively, but it's far from business as usual for Randall and Spunt. The album opens with ominous drums and angular guitar lines of Life Prowler. At first I was taken back a bit by how clean this track sounds compared to their previous recordings, but before I could dwell on that thought too long the fuzz commences. As with the past couple of releases the band continues to experiment with electriconic sound collages as the underbelly on some of the albums strongest tracks. As a result the songs are bit more fleshed out than previous releases, but the bands trademark blistering punk remains up front in the mix. What's striking about this album is that although the band are pushing their sound into new territory they never loose the charm or formula of their earlier recordings that wowed us on Weirdo Rippers. Fever Dreaming is straight up punked up scuzz with it's scream along chorus and driving guitars. Elsewhere No Age throw a few curve balls but never miss the mark especially on the gorgeous Positive Amputation and the album closing track Chem Trails. The later is call and response pop song that proves to be one of the albums biggest surprises and the bands most accessible track to date.

No Age have taken another step forward in the evolution of their sound and somehow managed to surpass all expectations with an album that is as delicate as it is brash and undeniably No Age. You'll be hard pressed to find a better record released in 2010.


Listen to Everything In Between (and then guy buy it!)