No Age, Everything In Between

No Age is a D.I.Y experimental/punk band hailing from Los Angeles, California, and consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Spunt. Their third studio album, Everything In Between, follows a steady trend of honest and sincere records, something lacking in music these days. I say “punk,” but it’s really hard to put a label on these guys, especially since this album seems more experimental than anything.

Everything starts off with a kick-drum loop leading into a layered guitar loop with very celestial overtones. Loops are a big tool in this band’s exploratory style. “One time is all I need to know my job’s complete and when I reach into myself my past comes true / My life,” goes a chant repeated like a mantra through the first song, “Life Prowler.” It sets the mood for this record perfectly: a battle through the struggles of life and remaining true to yourself along the way, no matter how battered and bloodied you may come out of it.

The feel then switches to a bitter nostalgia in the song “Glitter”: “Thoughts will move me I’ve been wondering / I want you back underneath my skin.” Lyrics like these, paired with Kevin Sheilds-esque guitar riffs, make for a peculiarly heart-wrenching song, it leaves me with a feeling of losing love yet not giving a fuck; trying to forget, yet a glimmer of a time far gone always seems to linger.

The album starts to get faster-paced and a bit grittier in the next two songs, “Fever Dreaming” and “Depletion.” “Fever Dreaming” is definitely a song I would love to see these guys do live, and that’s really all that goes through my head when it comes on. On “Depletion,” the vocals remind me vaguely of a younger Daniel Johnston, and the context of the song also reminds me of his style, bringing the tempo down a bit. “La La La La With Out You!” The chorus of the next song, “Skinned,” gets your head bobbin’ and toe tapping, and the steady buildup to it makes the climax all the better; gotta love a good climax.

The latter half of the album brings me back to Kevin Sheilds and My Bloody Valentine. The songs are warm blankets of noise with sounds permeating out that sound far from the guitar making them. Everything In Between is far from a homogenous album — it’s all over the place, and its hard to put your finger on. All the things we don’t have words for, feelings and intentions all jumbled together, abstract and obscure; this album blows me away. Thank you, No Age, for doing it again.

Feature photo by Todd Cole.