Looking at the past three years, it wouldn’t be presumptuous to assume that No Age was in a deep, deep slumber. At last, the L.A.-based duo of Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt have released their third full-length record, An Object. Their latest effort is definitely a summer album, but not in the classic sense of how we may typically think of. It is by no means light or fun or beachy (words that might normally complement a “summer” record). It, rather, provides a soundtrack to help is trudge through late summer humidity. No Age is generally punk energy, but they also throw in a few punches of unexpected delicacy, perhaps making it the band’s (if not best) most thoughtful album.
The album did, in fact, take quite a bit of thought. It’s been three years since the release of No Age’s last album Everything in Between. Randall and Spunt admit that writing this latest album proved problematic. After scrapping and re-recording streams of songs, the duo finally settled on the blueprint that would become An Object. The struggles they had in constructing the record might not be apparent in the end result, but the obvious time and dedication the duo took to its creation is obvious.
No Age has always flirted with the line between pure punk and art rock, but An Object abandoned that line entirely. Lyrically, Spunt keeps the anguish of typical No Age with simple lines like “show me some decency!” and “does anybody care?” scattered throughout the record.
“An Impression” slows the album down slightly and brings an orchestra. These interspersed melodic overtures bring a more classic beauty, which is a pretty big change. The change doesn’t last long, however. “Lock Box” immediately takes us back to the minimalist in your face No Age. Even in the melodic overtures, the band’s edge never dwindles. In “No Ground” and “Lock Box” the bass is strategically faulty at times, with the reverb taking over the entire song, if only for a moment.
From its composition to its distribution, this is a DIY record to the core — Randall and Spunt even insisted on packaging and shipping the first batch of the record themselves (how kind of Sub Pop to let them!). Now that that’s done, An Object is available from Sub Pop (although these will be distributed by the label themselves). Check out the band’s upcoming tour dates here.
