While “Eraser,” the first single from No Age’s first proper album for Sub Pop (remember last year’s Weirdo Rippers was a compilation of vinyl singles and EPs), still shows Dean Spunt and Randy Randall to be inhabiting that wonderfully fuzzed out space of lo-fi, punk, and ambient noise, when you strip away the hiss, you may be surprised what you find. As the melody kicks in at the 90 second mark, it sounds more than a bit Strokes-y. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Punk rock, whether we’re talking about the classics, or the modern lo-fi artists like No Age or Times New Viking, or the garage punks like Jay Reatard, has always carried a strong sense of melody with its back to basics approach to songwriting. And if that Strokes comparison bothers you, then just think about all the classic punk bands The Strokes copped on their debut. That’s the same place No Age are coming from on this one. With “Erasers” b-sides covering Nate Denver, The Urinals, and the Nerves it’s like one happy, hissy, fuzzy love fest to the days of punk gone by.
MP3: No Age – Eraser
No Age’s Subpop debut, Nouns, will be out on May 6th. The “Eraser” single is available now from Subpop, or digitally at Amazon.
