Another Form of Relief

A few years ago, if Pitchfork had given an album a 9.2 rating, I’d be all over it in no time. I wouldn’t necessarily like it, but a high score at least meant it was worth trying. Now I drop in on Pitchfork about once a week, skim read the reviews of bands I already know, and leave it at that. Which meant that No Age slipped entirely under my radar. That is until they were announced as part as Los Campesino’s Shred Yr Face tour.

For some reason, I expected No Age to sound like The Thermals. I have no logical reason to think that, given I had never heard them, or even read anything about them until a couple of weeks ago. Maybe their name suggests a certain urgency or something. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t really prepared for the wall of noise I was hit by. During the first minute of Eraser, it sounds as if it is something big. By the second minute, you start to wonder if it’s little more than an interesting instrumental piece. When the vocals finally kick in, we’re already in the final moments of the song, making us desperate to hear some more. Which I suppose is what makes it so perfect as a promo mp3.