No Age - Losing Feeling

When you think of No Age, several things immediately come to mind – playing in the middle of a river in LA, loud, noise rock and a DIY punk ethic that goes above and beyond pretty much every other band around at the minute. Their song ‘Teen Creeps’ has become the soundtrack not only to an entire scene, but of a generation of frustrated young people, desperate to change but not quite knowing how. However, there’s only so long that two young men can stay angry for, and their latest EP seems to illustrate this.

Having spent their infancy of their career releasing records in their shorter form, it’s after two consecutive long players that they have returned to the EP. Comparisons to Sonic Youth have been concurrent throughout their career, mainly thanks to the nature both bands do music, however, it’s only on ‘Losing Feeling’ that they seem to try and live up to this. This release is filled with a sound that belies the fact that they’re a two man band. There’s definitely still an element of the lo-fi scene that they have come to call their own, but it’s working with a harmonious soundscape that sounds hurried but deliberate and brooding at the same time. The title track is one that seems a world away from the band’s relatively ancient 2007 album ‘Weirdo Rippers’, using layered guitars (a staple throughout) whilst taking over two minutes of build up before a final one minute release.

In short, this EP could be seen as No Age maturing and finally coming into their own. They may have almost single-handedly built up a scene filled with low fidelity and fuzz, but it seems that Randy and Dean are ready to move on to what 2008’s ‘Nouns’ often hinted at but didn’t deliver. Only ‘Losing Feeling’’s final track, ‘You’re A Target’ sounds like what you might have expected to hear, but even then it’s deeper and crisper than what has come before it. This is No Age for people who didn’t like No Age - it even features an instrumental. It’s beautiful, glorious, but it’s still definitely them. We can only hope that this is a sign of things to come.