No Age
Nouns
No Age
Nouns
Sub Pop
When I say Nouns, the new album by Los Angeles-based duo No Age, is experimental, I mean it like when you tell someone their tattoo that you don't like is ... interesting. This album is ... experimental.
Actually, it sort of grows on you, but you have to go in knowing these guys are into trying to create something new out of some old, already-been-done things. Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/singer Dean Spunt add loops and samples to round out their sound, with occasional good results. In "Things I Did When I Was Dead," for example, a soft, melodic little ditty playing over that REE REE REE sound from slasher films creates an unusual tension; it's borderline annoying, but also compelling. In fact, that's probably a fitting description for the entire album. The gratuitous use of dissonance, and the arrangement of sound in a way that isn't always easy to listen to, may be what gives the album some teeth.
Listen to this sophomore effort to hear static, whale noises, soundchecks made into songs, some fun toe-tappers, and a dash of tambourine, which never gets old.--Amy Beeman
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