No Age - Everything In Between Album Review - REDEFINE magazine - music art film journalism

There has been a recent surge of drummer/guitarist combos playing a brash brand of lo-fi rock with punk influences. Throughout all the hype — both positive and negative — these various acts have been garnering across the nation, No Age has continued to do its own thing, and in the process, has amassed critical acclaim along the way. The notorious DIY duo from Los Angeles is picking up right where they left off with their new full length, Everything In Between.

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No Age – “Glitter” – DOWNLOAD MP3

The album opens with the meandering “Life Prowler” before walking into a more familiar pop and hook-oriented “Glitter” (the first single of the album). But it isn’t really until the third track, “Fever Dreaming,” that a punk thrash of massive proportions showcasing guitarist Randy Randall’s vocals even struggles to keep up with the mess of noise the duo creates. The thing that separates No Age from similar lo-fi acts, is that unlike a lot of the other ones, No Age has great songwriters. “Fever Dreaming” is a pop song masquerading with a surf rock attitude — or a surf rock song masquerading with a pop attitude. There is an even amount of both in here, and it provides something for everyone. The first third of Everything In Between keeps the band on this level, bouncing seamlessly between punk rock attitude and pop charm.

This versatility is what also separates No Age from their peers. The duo isn’t afraid to deviate from the standard lo-fi jams. “Katerpillar” incorporates ambient, driven swirls of guitars into the mix — and at no point do they seem out of place — as it flows into the poppy, beach tones of “Valley Hump Crash.” No Age have demonstrated with Everything In Between that the band is capable of meshing its previous catalog into a coherent sound. Now, half the fun of the band will be seeing where they expand from this.

No Age – “Fever Dreaming”