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Published at 2:57pm
The Lyric Opera's The Pearl Fishers transcends its source....
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There is one undeniable benefit to starting off a musical career with a raw, dirty work: It’s easy to upgrade your sound. No Age, the improbable hardcore-sunshine Los Angeles duo, follows its debut by doing just that, turning what some saw as stumbled-upon chemistry into a confident, unique pop vision.
This follow-up to last year’s odds-and-ends collection, Weirdo Rippers, takes advantage of a cushy indie label (Sub Pop) and newfound access to better—or at least more conventional—recording equipment. Certainly, when a band’s fame is built on a rough-edged document, there’s always the fear that those new tools will suck the flavor out of their recipe (see Guided by Voices, Sebadoh, Pavement). But drummer-vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall, both trigger-happy loop fiends, have an odd chemistry that no amount of studio time seems to have fazed: Spunt sings and pummels his drums with a reckless disregard for tempo or pitch, while Randall windmills his guitar with severe, minimalist strokes. And yet despite an imposing intensity, sunny melodies are at the heart of No Age’s sound.
“Things I Did When I Was Dead,” for example, may showcase Randall’s impressive use of ambient guitar noise, but it’s underscored by a galloping, Nashvillian drum pattern and sweetly innocent chords. And here’s the truth: No Age is really a bubblegum aficionado for people who are uncomfortable with candy’s sugar-coated surface, modern heirs to the chewed-up tradition dating back to the Ramones.
