No Age's new one

I found kind of an interesting quote about the new No Age album, An Object in Spin today and thought I'd share it:

"We wanted to go back to this idea from [2007's] Weirdo Rippers where we didn't really think about songs as a completed structure but just as little moments," [Dean Spunt] says, "like not really having anything to do with a verse or a chorus, but just having parts that can make a whole. The interesting thing with Weirdo Rippers is that we were learning how to play our instruments, so it has a certain quality to it that we, at this point, really can't replicate unless I started playing accordion."

Instead, the drummer picked up a bass, fiddled with amplified contact mics, and toyed with prepared speakers, all in an effort to keep the making of An Object "uncomfortable."

"I could barely play drums, I could barely sing," Spunt remembers of No Age's early days. "But I've gotten to the point where playing drums and signing [has become] second nature... I could play an hour and 20 minutes and not feel tired. I accomplished it, and I didn't know what else I could do in that context. I got to the point where I felt very comfortable, and to me that started to feel slightly scary. I need to try things."

There's more here.

It took me a couple of listens to get into the new one, but I'm liking it now.

No Age

It kind of sucks that I don’t get promos from Sub Pop anymore, at least not regularly. (I did receive the very excellent new Kelley Stoltz and went to work on it immediately, doing a Blurt interview with the guy with almost no help from the publicist. My friend Stoo ended up getting me in touch with Kelley…what do publicists do? Remind me. Anyway, my point is that I have never been anything but a good proposition for Sub Pop and they cut me off anyway, so whatever…)

But the real point is that I won’t be reviewing, or even really listening to, the new No Age, despite the fact that I would most likely really enjoy it and give it a good review, at least based on this free mp3 which I got, not from Sub Pop, but from Large Hearted Boy, who is evidently still on their list.

It’s called “Glitter.” Enjoy it. Enjoy it more because you don’t have to write about it.

Repeating myself all over again

Maybe a week and a half ago, I put up some videos from three spazz punk bands without much in the way of analysis or verbiage. Today, just the opposite, words, words, words, and not a bit of TV.

(Though feel free to reach back into time for the accompanying images here: http://30secondsover.blogspot.com/2008/06/three-punknoise-bands-ive-been-thinking.html)
A record review from this week’s Philadelphia Weekly (www.philadelphiaweekly.com)

Abe Vigoda
Skeleton (Post Present Medium)

Rating: Excellent, like John Oates’ mustache.

Part of the noise-pop phenomenon centered around L.A.’s the Smell, Abe Vigoda have none of the world-weariness of their ’70s actor namesake, but rather jitters like a Montessori class on an Easter egg hunt. There’s a world-ish shimmer to this band’s splintered melodies, south-of-the-border rhythms breaking through eerie distortion. Vocals also drift in from sunny distances, leading a far away parade against a Day-Glo array of keyboards and drums. You feel every minute as if songs like “Bear Face” will open up, and yet they remain bright, inscrutable and full of wordless joy. (Jennifer Kelly)

And a coupla show previews:

No Age
Thurs., July 10, 8pm. $10. With High Places + Abe Vigoda. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 215.733.9623. www.r5productions.com

Even No Age’s records—whether last year’s singles or this year’s Nouns—are like grabbing onto the business end of a power wire. Live, this L.A. duo sputters and spazzes, guitarist Randy Randall locked in an epileptic fit of up and down strumming, drummer/singer Dean Spunt bouncing up and down on the seat, arms flying in frantic eighth-note banging. The energy is all punk and noise, but the songs themselves hide broken shards of poplike melody, glittering once or twice, then disappearing into a firestorm of aggression. (Jennifer Kelly)

Titus Andronicus
Mon., July 14, 8pm. $8-$10. With Wye Oak. Circle of Hope, 1125 S. Broad St. 215.468.2726. www.circleofhope.net
Titus Andronicus, the Shakespeare play, begins with a ritual murder, winds its way through rapes and dismemberments and ends with pretty much everyone dead. Titus Andronicus, the Jerseyite punk band, begins with pogo rhythms and mindlessly catchy choruses, winds its way through cheerful images of death and dismemberment and ends up with a bouncy chant of “Your life is over.” That’s “Titus Andronicus,” the band’s brilliantly oversimplified take on the bard’s least-known tragedy—Shakespeare not just for dummies, but for beer-swilling spazzes. Who says the kids aren’t learning the classics these days? (J.K.)