Albums: Nouns, Weirdo Rippers, Eraser

No Age is a noise punk band from Los Angeles, California which formed in December, 2005. The band consists of Randy Randall (guitar) and Dean Spunt (vocals, drums). The band has so far released two albums, 2007's "Weirdo Rippers" (a compilation of early material) and 2008's "Nouns".

In mid-2008, the band released the single "Eraser", which has since become the band's best known song. Dean Spunt and Randy Randall, two perfectly nice fellows from the LA skate/art/punk underworld, comprise No Age, a destructive duo who decided to release five limited vinyl-only releases on a variety of DIY indie labels across the globe on the same day. Weirdo Rippers is a collection of highlights for these releases.

Despite its multiple sources, the tracklisting for Weirdo Rippers follows a narrative of its own, cohering effectively as an album. The duo put out their second release in 2008 titled Nouns, on Sub Pop. The album was rated 9.2 (out of 10) by Pitchfork Media, making it the website's highest-reviewed original release of the year to this point.

Formed from the ashes of Wives, No Age purvey a stripped essential take on pop delivered via a clearly defined punk-rock aesthetic, taking noise, energy and melody in equal measure. Reminiscent at various junctures of the likes of early Black Dice, The Ramones, and My Bloody Valentine, Weirdo Rippers documents a fast developing band hitting their stride. Harnessing an explosive dynamic tension, No Age’s music is prone to switch from syncopated punk-rock squalls to melodic, transient flashes of colour.

Conversely, a pop song might spontaneously cut through the noise. On some basic level, No Age are their own band, full of their own conviction, and following their own trajectory. Since their first performance at LA’s the smell in April 2006, the band have continued Wives’ tradition of incendiary live shows, playing as frequently as possible, expounding a visceral energy on an equal footing with their recorded output, via guitar, drums, vocals and a minimal amount of effects.

No Age’s music is deceptively simple in its construction, yet thoroughly compelling. Raw, considered and skilfully arranged, these eleven tracks are overflowing with ideas, ambition and intent. Both Randy and Dean are also involved in a curatorial, social, and artistic sense with the aforementioned the smell, an all-ages, mutually-supportive grassroots space dedicated to underground music and art.

(The Smell is the building featured on the Weirdo Rippers album cover. Randy and Dean also create video, performance and visual art together under the name No Age and individually, and recently curated the ‘Get Hurt’ exhibition in LA, featuring works by Devendra Banhart, Rich Jacobs, Ron Rege Jr., Matthew Thurber, Susan CianCiolo, and Ashley Macomber to name a few.

Similar to 0 things you like: