No Age have been riding their momentum in some style recently, building up some well-deserved attention in the process. To capitalise, the 7″ single ‘Eraser’ comes out on the 8th of April, providing a taster of their first fully-fledged album Nouns, to be released later in May on Sub-pop. The single comes with b-side cover versions of The Nerves, Nate Denver, and Urinals.
L.A. drum-and-guitar duo No Age are another band that have been earning plaudits via their let’s-play-everywhere-we-can-all-the-time touring philosophy. I first saw them sharing a crowded bill with, amongst others, Dan Deacon, where the lights were all but out, no one could get a drink, the heating was busted, the schedule running late, and the crowd generally growing impatient and frustrated with the way the night was unfolding. Up step these two guys, treating the stage like a stage; no gimmicks, no effect pedals…just some focused energy and the will to allow their songs to create the first impressions. Away from the narrative efforts of their studio work, a set of melodic, feel-good songs – admittedly buried under some seriously thrashy guitar — seemed to win over just about everyone and turn the night right around. Whether ‘post-punk’ or ‘noise pop’ are fair tags to brand them with, I’m not so sure, but if these guys continue the way they’re going, it looks like you’ll soon have an opportunity to decide all for yourself… (more…)