Nouns (Sub Pop)

Already known for their ear-piercing abrasiveness, Los Angeles punk duo No Age has cranked its amps even further past 11 on Nouns, their official full-length debut. There’s hardly a moment on the 12-song disc that isn’t full of brightly buzzing guitars. Album opener “Miner” begins with a throbbing white-noise loop, before Randy Randall’s saturated, shoegazer-influenced chords bounce off of Dean Spunt’s hyper-speed drum beats. Though no strangers to sugary melodies—2007’s Weirdo Rippers, a collection of EPs, had its fair share of pop moments—the act sheds much of their punkiness for a handful of hooks on Nouns.

“Here Should Be My Home” doesn’t stray too far from the trashy, two-chord vibe of their past work, but it’s sunny chorus owes more to the Beach Boys than it does Black Flag. If not for Spunt’s endearing, out-of-tune vocals, the alt-rock leanings of disc highlight “Sleeper Hold”, a three-minute power-pop masterpiece of bashed cymbals and blaring solos, could pass for Smeared-era Sloan. Since a full album’s worth of sweet-toothed ragers would be too much to take, No Age has ambient pieces to tone down Nouns’ cutesiness. The moody instrumental “Impossible Bouquet” floats by on a droning acoustic guitar line before colliding headfirst with a dizzying sonic collage of blips and bleeps. Although certainly poppier than previous efforts, the manic, ultra-fuzzed out fervour of Nouns will likely be remembered as one of the year’s best punk CDs.