No Age - Glitter

Summer is winding down even though the weather is still pretty nice. All in all, there has been a lot of cool stuff so far this year and I'm finally getting back into the groove after keeping things a little slower than usual this August. With that said, I'll get back to a more regular habit of posting in September. August isn't done yet though, and I will do that small Fripp post Monday or Tuesday. Today though...

I went out to my boss's house to help with a tech thing only to return home two or three hours later and find that a DVD screener of a movie I wanted to see leaked in that time and another one the night before (of course my two favorite movies from this summer haven't leaked yet though. Why can't I get DVD screeners of Scott Pilgrim and Inception? C'mon! I promise not to share them! SERIOUSLY!!!), but the new No Age album, Everything In Between, also leaked! There are a few albums on my want list that I am eagerly awaiting but the No Age album has been at the top of that list since it was announced a few months ago. Now, if you've been reading my site for a while I'm sure you know that I don't share albums that have an impending release and I don't want to see money taken from folks who put their hearts into what they do, so while I downloaded the album I'm not gonna share it and I'm going to pick it up upon it's release. If you download it and like it I hope you do the same, but even though No Age are becoming quite the popular band in some circles, I realize that not everyone is familiar with them so I wanted to share a little info about them and give you an idea what they sound like.

No Age are the duo of Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt. They were initially part of the hardcore punk group Wives, but after that group dissolved they decided to continue on as a duo with in different direction. It's probably easiest to describe No Age's sound as dreamy, shoegazer punk with a joyous edge to it. They use noisy guitar loops for texture and trade off on instruments regularly making for a great live show. Lyrically they're more stream of consciousness than anything really deep, but those lyrics and vocals are like another instrument, further adding to the texture of the band's sound. I'm being lazy saying this, but the first thing I think of is a punk version of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. I feel like a hack saying that, but that doesn't make the description inaccurate.

For me, if I was 18 or 19, going to college and djing at a college radio station, I would be playing this all the time. No Age is not an overtly commercial band, no matter how catchy some of their songs may be, and I don't ever expect to hear them on popular radio, but that's popular radio's loss. Their new record and it's first single, Glitter, sound a little more polished, but that doesn't hurt anything and they don't sound like anyone else out right now.

I'm not going to continue rattling on endlessly about how great I think No Age are, rather I'm going to give you some evidence so you can make up your own mind. Below you'll find a stream from Sub Pop's SoundCloud page for Glitter, and here are links for Amazon and iTunes where you can purchase that single and hear samples of it's b-sides. On top of that, if you get yourself over to No Age's page at RCRD LBL you can download Glitter and three other songs there for free! How about them apples?

If you're feeling No Age, their new album, Everything In Between, will be released on September 28th, but you can also get the excellent Nouns and Weirdo Rippers now at your favorite indie record shop or digitally online. The CD issue of Nouns is particularly nice with a booklet filled with photos and artwork of the band on tour, doing art things and such. If you like these guys, please support them by buying their album, going to one of their shows or grabbing a t-shirt. They're a true indie duo and I know they'd love your support. Hope you enjoy!

No Age - Glitter by subpop


By the way, you can visit No Age's official website here.