Album Review: Nouns
No Age
Sub Pop Records
(2008)
***
“Shh, man…keep it down or they’ll hear us,” a voice cautions as the opening track starts up on No Age’s latest effort, Nouns . At the moment the song begins , there is a pervasive feeling of being snuck into the attic of the band’s impromptu set. Everything from the album artwork, which is packaged like a personalized photo album, to the DIY recordings of the drummer/guitar duo, Randy Randall and Dean Spunt, who show unerring loyalty to their local scene, makes this Sub Pop debut feel like an organic, heartfelt project made for the artists’ friends.
The beauty of No Age’s release — as implied by the album’s ambiguous title — is that it can encompass anything you want it to be. Spunt and Randall honed in on what the California punk/skater suburban kids grew up listening to in the distant past: DIY punk, stoner shoe-gazer noise, nineties alt-rock, and even the art of sampling, a nod to the defiant hip hop heads. The album throughout becomes an ambient blend of looping guitars, muffled vocals, grunge-rock distortions and cacophonous samples.
“Teen Creeps,” a stand out track on their album, is the most pop-driven song on the record. It combines heavy power chords, enticing pop guitar leads, and heavy drumming reminiscent of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Hüsker Dü. Spunt’s self-effacing lyrics are hidden under textured layers of noise, an aesthetic in keeping with the rest of the noise-pop outfits to have come out of the Los Angeles experimental venue, The Smell, which is also No Age’s place of origin. During the song, he spews out the lines: “Teen creeps I’ve tried to hold it back/So let me leave your welcome mat/I wont end up like them at all/Wash away what we create/I hate you more, I hate this place”. Even though the energy behind the sound is electric, Spunt’s lyrics may come off a bit undeveloped and the vocal barrage not fully committed. However, there is an undeniable charm to it all. Where teen angst is the driving force behind many of the songs, his lyrics actually come off sounding more endearing than obnoxious.
In all reality, the vocals are secondary to the raw energy and sheer volume that embodies the music, as evidenced by the sheer enthusiasm that emanates from the speakers. The special chemistry that Spunt and Randall share is ultimately what makes this album truly enjoyable. Their endeavors throughout Nouns seem like effortless examples of unadulterated and addictive creativity. For this reason, among others, No Age has already begun to find success in the broader market, yet it still has room to grow into a more developed band.
Pop music for noise fans? Maybe. But it wouldn’t be accurate to pigeonhole this album in that way. Listening to Nouns should give all music listeners of divergent tastes a breath of fresh air and a feeling of self-assurance that something original and heartfelt is being created. Schools across America are letting out and LA’s No Age wants everyone to have a good summer.
