New Music: No Age, Raccoo-oo-oon

I've never been one to stoop to "the dog ate my homework" lows but in this case I'm prepared to take the incomplete, if you would be so generous. My Raccoo-oo-oon review disappeared earlier this evening in a freak power outage, such things happen in the ghetto. But with the best of intentions I share with you this exquisite diamond of a song, Black Branches, from Raccoo-oo-oon's upcoming full length, Behold Secret Kingdom. Its full of racket like the angry forest at night. Look for a proper LP release of this soon on Night People, and in the meantime buy buy buy everything you can from this wonderful DIY label run by Raccoo-oo-oon's Shawn Reed.




No Age - Everybody's Down (Fat Cat 2007)

No Age - Weirdo Rippers / Fat Cat

Being a child of the internet has its perks! Sure I waste alot of time on tentative relationships but all the constant scouring yields results. Lately, like once a week, I've found some bundle of joy delivered straight to my hard drive. Easily thrills? Yeah, maybe, but the timing has been spot on. Panda Bear and Times New Viking brought it at the first turn of spring, spraying sunshine all over the place; in the car, on the porch, situation by situation these timely interventions have been just right, just what I need. This week's speedy delivery is from LA dudes, No Age. No Age plays a big part in the whole Smell scene, by now a fairly well-known quantity in the underground for all the right reasons. Bands like No Age, Mika Miko, Silver Daggers, Abe Vigoda, and many others from the same locale are working hard to restore your faith in rock music. Weirdo Rippers is full-length collection of No Age's most golden tracks, wrapped tight like dynamite and ready to explode upon play.

If only you could see me smiling rainbows right now! No Age is definitely lo-fi, all the cracks and distortion sounding bad in all the right ways. This duo, featuring one dude from the sadly short-lived Wives, are a rarity these days, not even trying to make it seem like they're having fun; this is all full-blooded honesty and, I'll be damned, a genuinely fun rock record in an age where people are turning more and more to electro for their thrills. Much like Times New Viking's wonderfully naive Presents The Paisley Reich, the recording quality should perk the ears of old timers still lamenting the glory days of Husker Du and Guided By Voices. But mostly I think No Age would form a Rock-N-Roll Express fan favorite tagteam with Parts & Labor, as both groups are equally adept at mixing sugar-rush punk pop with bright electronics.

"Loosen This Job" is the best summation of No Age, maybe thats a little too concise but the song brims with distortion, feedback, noise, or whatever (!) providing a warm palette for campfire drums and wonderful lyrics about how "Night time is the right time" and "Its colder in your house than you think / Its colder in your bones" echoing exactly how I feel every day after an eight-hour work day. This song speaks directly to me, whether intentional or not, but I hear it loud and clear and the most important thing is that it lets me cast away all the unwelcomed shit that I deal with during the work day. "Everybody's Down" is on a similiar frown-destroying tip; it's a punk gem like the best Punk-O-Rama song ever, like this makes me hop around like I did when I was fourteen years old and first heard NOFX or Pulley or some shit. Its a simple, guiltless pop song, all anthemic with huge singalongs like "Every soul in every town's got me goin ooooo-ahhhh-ooooo". "My Life's Alright With You" may be one of the best mixtape songs ever written simply for the title alone. Things start off pensively among swathes of keyboard and faraway guitars, total fuzzed out beach-cruising pop hooks and a swinging guitar solo to get all the kids gyrating.

This is the top of the mountain. I hope my excitement about this band is translating because I am doing double dutch with my shadow totally beside myself. Expect to hear alot more from these guys closer to the release date of June 11th when Weirdo Rippers is released on the always respectable Fat Cat. Keep in mind No Age hadn't released a single recording until March of this year, simultaneously unleasing five very limited vinyl releases. We're all new to this then so get on it and enjoy all the vitality radiating from this amazing band.