6A - Wednesday, October 06, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

6A - Wednesday, October 06, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

No Age screws
up 'Ever ything'

Glitz, glamour, justice

Lo-fi production
can't obscure
uneven songwriting
By JOSHUA BAYER
Daily Arts Writer
Out of all the do-it-yourself,
scrappier-is-better trash pop out-
fits infesting
the indie scene *
nowadays, gui-
tar-and-drum No4Age
duo No Age is E
probably the Evethin
most interesting.
But, as a mild Sub Pop
disclaimer, this
ongoing movement of fanboy-as-
artist is probably one of the least
interesting trends in indie rock
since - possibly - ever. While "lo-
fi" recordings certainly have their
rugged charm, poor production
value is never a substitute for solid
songwriting. And the majority of
the music pumping outof this trend
is little more than least-common-
denominator garage fuzz.
With 2008's Nouns, No Age
transcended pigeonholing, nailing
a magnetic balance between punk-
influenced thrashing and shoe-
gazey brainwashing. Everything
In Between, No Age's latest, is still
less vanilla than your average io-fi
outing, but finds the band trying to
squeeze a poppier, more condensed
product out of its raw, color-out-
side-the-lines aesthetic. And, from
the sound of it, it's clear that No Age
isn't quite ready for the big leagues
just yet.
"Life Prowler" kicks things off
with an incessantly pulsing drum
machine, paving the way for a
scratchy-but-harmless wave of
single-minded guitar riffs while
synth sirens tack on a forced air of
synthetic dreaminess. Meanwhile,
vocalist Dean Spunt sings vaguely
profound lyrics that read like for-
tune cookie prophecies: "One time
is all I need / to know my job's
complete / and when J reach into
/ myself, my past comes true." The
whole thing feels like a cookie-
cutter projection of genuine intro-

By ALEX RUSS man 2") works to uncover who's
Daily Arts Writer really at the bottom of the robber-
ies, it's suspected that Chelsea's
Through the 20 years of its own mother is somehow involved
existence, we've seen the "Law & with one of the thieves.
Order" franchise go through many Los Angeles brings to mind the
different incar- glitz and glamour of Hollywood,
nations: "Crimi- * the crazy celebrities and their
nal Intent," extravagant homes overlook-
"Special Vic- Law& Order: ing the valley. "Law & Order: Los
tims Unit" and Angeles" delivers on all fronts. The
even a British -Agel show starts right in the middle of
adaptation sim- Wednesdays a young celebrity's "night on the
ply known as at1O p.m. town," and we can see why it was
"Law & Order: a smart move for the franchise to
UK." Now in its make the 3,000 mile jump from
21st year, "Law New York City. The Los Ange-
& Order" is heading out west to the les installment has the feel of
bright lights of Los Angeles. And the old series - everything from
even in a new city, the series hasn't the intense court battles to the
lost any of its spunk. ever-familiar "dun dun" between
The first episode centers scenes. But where else besides L.A.
around two detectives, Rex Win- would a young celebrity's mother
ters (Skeet Ulrich, "Jericho") get put on the stand for exploiting
and TJ Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll, her daughter?
"Salt"), as they investigate thieves Morales is one ofthe exceptional
targeting the homes of young characters in the premiere. From
celebrities, such as Chelsea Sen- his first appearance, he exhib-
nett (Danielle Panabaker, "The its a very apparent "get down to
Crazies") and her mother Trudy business" attitude. Watching him
(Shawnee Smith, "Saw"). As cross-examine Trudy at the end of
Deputy District Attorney Ricardo the episode is almost uncomfort-
Morales (Alfred Molina, "Spider- able; viewers are made to feel like

they're in the hot seat themselves.
His thirst for justice provides a
sense of confidence and audacity
that is somewhat lacking from the
other main characters.
On that note, the roles of Win-
ters and Jaruszalski are rather dull
and unconvincing. Perhaps they
need an episode or two to come
into their own, but protagonists,
especially two veteran Los Ange-
les policemen, should bring some
'Law & Order'
stays spunky off
in La La Land.
excitement and emotion to their
roles. Fortunately, Terrence How-
ard ("Iron Man") is scheduled to
join the cast starting this week,
hopefully providing a boost.
"Law & Order: Los Angeles"
should still prove to be a hit with
fans of the series and newcomers
as well. It takes an old, familiar
formula and transplants it to a new
city full of endless possibilities.

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This page, five minutes from now.
spection, and the shruggy chord
progressions sound lazy rather
than restrained.
"Common Heat," No Age's crack
at a ballad, follows in this same vein
of prescribed "intimacy." The song
strikes an alluringly sandy texture
with fast-picked acoustic guitar and
insistent shaker, but Spunt's snotty
warble doesn't bode well for the
band's newfound mode of breezy
faux-earnestness: "I get myself up
to go to work / But I can't find my
cleanest shirt / There's no way I can
get out of bed now." The track's juve-
nile vibe echoes Best Coast's petty
couch-bum moping, but minus all
the droll self-awareness - Spunt
just sounds like he's whining.
Elsewhere, No Age proves it can
still crank up the volume ... but also
write incredibly pedestrian shred-
a-thons. "Fever Dream" coasts on
the same facile four-second riff for
three-and-a-half minutes, tossing
in a few of the band's signature gui-
tar-as-migraine feedback screech-
es for sorely needed variety. While
the hangnail aggression certainly
gets the blood pumping, the track
exemplifies the record's repetitive-
ness.

"Skinned" is even less fun, with
Spunt sneering out of tune over
midtempo power chords and junk-
yard snare battering that's more
grating than constructively abra-
sive. The band seems to be "rein-
ing it in" from spontaneously shifty
noise collages to a more refined
blend of slacker rock, but the record
is far too in-your-face to feel believ-
ably apathetic. Instead, No Age just
sounds like it's trying way too hard
to sound like itself.
"Depletion" and "Shred and
Transcend" both feature white-hot
guitar solos, but these moments
of searing precision mainly just
serve to emphasize the structural
asphyxiation on the rest of the
album.
. "Glitter" is the only real stand-
out, with distorted guitars gouging
out drama over a tight rhythm of
jock-jam drum machine claps and
monkey-sprung snare fills, empha-
sizing the utter lack of tension on
the rest of the album.
Rather than delivering the more
mature, more calculated album
that No Age clearly intended, the
band inadvertently flashed us its
baby teeth.

"HULK CROSS-EXAMINE"
JOIN DAILY ARTS. BRING YOUR PORCH COUCH.
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RELEASE DATE-Wednesday, October6, 2010
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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