Customer Reviews

Nouns [Vinyl]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For what it aims to do, mainly dressing up short and poppy songs with punk rock energy, noise, and ambient elements, Nouns succeeds mightily. It's a short and energetic burst that is over before you know it. At worst, it provides an opportunity to simply rock out, at its best it's beautiful, chaotic, and energetic all at the same time.

I first saw No Age open up for Liars, and I enjoyed them but wasn't blown away by them. I liked their energy and their ambient interludes, but they struck me as kind of simple. Their short songs seemed unfinished. I also tend to view two piece bands as a bit of a gimmick after I've heard The White Stripes and Death From Above 1979 over and over again. So I wasn't really prepared to enjoy this album as much as I did. It took a couple of listens, but after I fully digested the hooks and dug through some of the noise this album really opened up.

The album kicks off with Miner, an uptempo number that sets Nouns off in typical thrashing style. It's a quick, straight forward song with buried vocals. It's got a very hooky guitar riff and nice energy. Teen Creeps is another highlight with an absolutely soaring chorus. My favorite song on the album is Sleeper Hold. It manages to sound epic at less than 3 minutes. Their are also ambient interludes scattered throughout the album that add atmosphere and also provide a respite from the more energetic songs.

A lot of music labeled as "indie" has a tendency to lack any backbone, and No Age doesn't have that problem. It harkens back to a time when independent bands actually rocked. No Age is treading on similar ground as Husker Du, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr.-noisy but ultimately catchy bands. It's not as good as those artists best work, but it's a fun and enjoyable album.

Nouns is one of my favorite releases of 2008. If you're a fan of Sonic Youth, Husker Du, or Dinosaur Jr, chances are you'll enjoy this band, or if you're just tired winsome and limp indie rock, then check out this album. No Age also gets point for the packaging, which comes with a book full of photos. It's nice to see a band make an effort in that department for a change.

I would recommend this CD to someone who isn't looking for instant satisfaction out of an album but something that grows on you with more listens. I think the out come is more enjoyable if you have to work for it. I had the same experience with weirdo rippers.

This album has a warm, fuzzy, and happy ambience. Its filled with cryptic lyrics and naive sounding vocals. The distorted noise that seems initially to be an annoyance will eventually move into the background and the melodies will start to surface.

I'm not a critic but I love music and this satisfies my fix. It never sounds too familiar. I love listening to music that isn't completely predictable and this would be that.

Listen to Teen Creeps.

I have no idea what makes this such a low rated record, Nouns is an excellent record. It's loud, noisy indie punk rock, and that's exactly how I like it. Definately among the best releases of 2008.

Great "indie-rock" or whatever from Los Angeles on Sub Pop Records, heavily influenced by both punk rock and the "shoegaze" bands of the late 80s/early 90s. Upbeat, some songs quicker-paced than others, with really great layered guitars, and (at times) melodic vocals.

Great variety in songs on here. The first single, "Eraser," might be the catchiest song on the LP...not sure yet. Great live band too...everyone check them out.

Fans of this, also check out: Liars, F+cked Up, Mika Miko, Jay Reatard, Health, Career Suicide, Abe Vigoda, and so on.

I first heard about No Age on the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary sampler. When I saw "Nouns" had been released I had to give it a shot.

To simply call the sound ambient is an injustice. As is simply calling it indie or punk or electronic. "Nouns" is all of those. "Nouns" is music that fills the spaces of every day life. It's the kind of music that makes you glad to be alive. It's angelic. That's really all I can say. I love this music. I literally listen to it every day. This will be one of the best choices you've made this year.

Let me state upfront that I am a HUGE fan of indie-music. A few weeks ago, there was a highly anticipated mid-week concert here in Cincinnati featuring No Age/Deerhuner/Dean Deacon in the so-called "Round Robin" tour, where all three acts play at the same time. Would have loved to go see it (in particular for Deerhunter, a band I just LOVE), but it being a mid-week show, and with my work demands, I simply couldn't make it. But the buzz afterwards was such that I decided to check out No Age's latest album. Let me also admit I have not heard any of the band's earlier output, so this was my first exposure to the band.

"Nouns" (12 tracks; 31 min.) is not quite what I expected. The album is a collage of 12 short songs, most of them in the 2 min. range, not that there is anything wrong with that. The songs themselves, though, were quite a challenge for me, to be honest. Take the opener "Miner", which plays in such low-fi that I thought there was something wrong with my stereo-set up. The sound improves after that (I guess it was just an art statement for the first song to sound like that). Most songs feature and are washed into lots and lots guitar-reverb sounds, but with little melody to speak of. It puzzled me, frankly.

The whole album felt like an "Art" (with capital A) statement, but I simply did not enjoy it. I'm sure that No Age fans will feel different, and I totally respect their sentiment. This album was just not to my liking (and I'm generally pretty open-minded about indie-music, so this was a disappointment to me). That aside, the CD comes with a 64 page booklet of pictures, some of them quite nice, but simply reinforcing the feeling for me that "Nouns" is "Art". But for me it was not pleasure.

Nouns (2008, Sub Pop) No Age's second studio album. ***

The sound of these indie rockers is certainly a strange one, but the word that ultimately describes it is frustrating. The music itself is good, the instrumentation isn't groundbreaking and the band members aren't geniuses with what they have in their hands, but they at least make it fit. The production, however, is what makes the album dismissable. The vocals are pushed back to such an extent that it's extremely difficult to discern them from the rest of the music. Maybe that's the point. If so, I don't get it. It's not bad, and certainly none of it is unlistenable; their punk rock, indie, and electronica influences (most notably Boards of Canada) are all high-spirited. Next time, maybe?

I heard a Bjork cover by these cats. They ripped it up buddy. Thrashed it real good. I love that sound.

"Errand Boy" has that same "get into another state of mind in the back alley" feel, but there wasn't enough of that for my taste. Some real good stuff none the less.

Despite the simplicity of the songs, (and let me interject, if you can't appreciate the noise then you're missing the music within the music) the songs bend and blend into the static/feedback that makes this underappreciated sound so avant garde.

I've never been able to understand people who hate Sonic Youth, and they don't understand me (you either love em or hate em). There is actually a copy of "Goo" on cassette tape in a picture in the booklet.

If you look at the pictures as you listen to the music, it will enhance your understanding of the music. I thought that was the radist. The picture booklet I mean.

Hey No Age, good work! Do me a favor though and darken it up next time round. Don't be afraid, we can handle the static and dread. It's music to our ears.

I'm amazed by the 5 stars reviews and the suggestions that No Age even approaches the greatness of My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Pere Ubu, and Dinosaur Jr. The sonic comparison is valid, but each of those bands were truly innovative and had good songs. Not No Age. There is really nothing special here, for the most part, just plodding fuzzy repetition. The melodies aren't strong and the energy level is pretty weak actually. The instrumental pieces are better, but lack impact. The most interesting track is "Things I Did When I Was Dead," but even that sounds pretty much like sub-par Animal Collective. How do bands get away with being so mediocre and getting so much hype? In fairness, their last album was a little bit better, so maybe people just can't admit how inadvisedly they jumped on the bandwagon with this band.

2 1/2

Mostly unimpressive noise-jams and uninspired angularities thrive off the typically indie strategy of masking simplistic songwriting with distortion to provide an illusion of edge.