Photos by Andrew Parks
The Artist & Their Latest Release: No Age, Losing Feeling (Sub Pop, 2009)
The Showcase: Ecstatic Peace! @ Red 7 Patio, 3.19.10
The Set In a Few Sentences: When No Age’s Randy Randall talked to Pitchfork last January, he promised lots of loops on the band’s second Sub Pop LP, saying, “We aren’t sampling other records; we are making the samples ourselves and working through them electronically to get them to a sound we like. It’s kind of a sound-collage element that’s rooted in the songwriting process for some of the tracks, and some of them are sort of straight-up songs with textures and flurries of sampled sounds.”
No kidding. As their Thurston Moore-approved South By set proved on Friday night, the L.A. duo is incredibly tight and textured these days–as if they found a way to stay punk in spirit while pushing their sound way past the slight 180s of last year’s Losing Feeling EP. The sudden addition of a live sampleslinger certainly helped color outside the lines, along with a willingness to downplay the mosh pit-ready muscle spasms of fan favorites like “Eraser” and “Teen Creeps.” Both were noticeably absent this particular night, as Randall and drummer/singer Dean Spunt seized the opportunity to test new material in front of a patient crowd. As for what it sounds like, we’ve got two words for you: longer and layered, albeit with enough tension/release moments to remind you that this is still a No Age production.
Randall looks like he needs a nap, though. (Too many late nights at the studio maybe?)
And a Letter Grade: A-
