No Age - Nouns

No Age
Nouns
(05.2008, Sub Pop)
Verdict = The same, lovable No Age

After the glory of No Age’s, Weirdo Rippers, the Los Angeles noise punks are back with a Sub Pop full length, Nouns. To be honest, while Weirdo Rippers was fresh and utterly delicious, I had a hard time imagining the band really building on the dynamic they had created. I mean, there is only so much you can do with feedback, power chords and some punky drums right? This is where I am supposed to say “Wrong!” but I still feel like that is pretty much the case. No Age still manages to rock pretty substantially on Nouns though. There are no real revelations here for those familiar with No Age aside from the record being more cohesive as a whole in comparison to Weirdo Ripper’s collection of singles, but that shouldn’t dissuade those who enjoyed Weirdo Rippers because the No Age formula is still as sweet as ever and Nouns contains some of their best anthemic jams to date. The transition from the fuzzy three minute haze of “Keechie” into the album center piece “Sleeper Hold” stands as an adequate reason alone to adore this record. Nouns is pretty accessible to in comparison to similar bands like Times New Viking or Psychedelic Horses Hit (:)) by keeping the high end feedback to a minimum. So, for people who just can’t stand the grating speaker corruption that seems to be Siltbreeze’s fortay, but still want to rock with a little bit of noise, No Age are your darlings. It may not be the almost perfect, revelatory event some have lauded, but Nouns still hits the spot with sloppy, disjointed, poppy, avant punk.

-Mr. Thistle

No Age performing "Sleeper Hold" live

No Age - Weirdo Rippers

No Age
Weirdo Rippers
(08.2007, Fat Cat)
8.5/10.0

There is something sublimely refreshing about the beach in the morning. The blissful rotation of the waves on the beach along with a pleasant morning chill is just invigorating. It provides the perfect start for one of those days where your optimism and sheer joy for life can't be tainted. That's why I wouldn't mind living on the Oregon coast. The first track on No Age's debut full length, Weirdo Rippers, captures this sentimentality with an extended intro of sampled waves doused with white noise; the careening water foreshadowing an album you just can't help but completely and joyfully embrace. A ramshackle duo of major-chord noise punk swimming in salty, ambient waves of fuzz, No Age is the perfect summer band for rejects. Despite their forays into extended avant-noise intros, No Age bustle through the 11 tracks on Weirdo Rippers in just over a half hour, leaving you salivating for more. Weirdo Rippers actually bears a lot of comparative elements to Deerhunter's Cryptograms, just with an increased playfulness and reckless abandon along with a much shorter attention span. The real secret to No Age's noisy onslaught is an unnerving penchant for spectacular hooks. Weirdo Rippers dishes them out continuously for its short duration, making them just off kilter enough to be endlessly playable. Pure sugary deliciousness that is wonderfully infectious.

-Mr. Thistle

No Age on Myspace