No Age were never an easy band to listen to: their noisy, punk work-ethic made them a hard band to approach, even if they could be deeply respected. On Nouns, songs like “Teen Creeps” were fuzzy monsters that could deafen an entire room. In comparison, Everything in Between is an easier listen, lacking the sheer noise of the previous album, and yet thankfully moving the band forwards. This isn’t a step back, even if they have cleaned up their sound a bit.
Try the deep merging of heavy percussion and catchy guitar riff on album opener, “Life Prowler.” There are moments where the song seems to hold back, offering quiet, reflective spots alongside the heavier instrumentation. The song sounds delightful and rather beautiful, the latter being a term that would once be difficult to associate with No Age. This is not to say that No Age sound reserved on Everything, however. “Fever Dreaming” is insane; the main chorus appearing to be a screech over a screaming guitar cut, showing that the No Age boys are still more than capable of going just a little bit crazy when the mood strikes.
The album is well paced out with a mixture of these faster tracks and slower, more melodic cuts. There is an enormous variety in the sound displayed: for example, the reversed, reverb-washed “Dusted” sounds like an immense wave of delightful noise, more akin to songs that may have appeared on earlier No Age albums. Again, this is one of the ‘pretty’ tracks. There are certainly songs that could be described as less than pretty, such as the riff-heavy, “Depletion,” with its frequent spoken-word muttering of “all of the time.” It’s a fine balance between heavier, quicker songs and slower, softer tracks that makes Everything so well paced.
A minor criticism could be that the album runs for a little too long. This is No Age’s longest album to date, and thirteen tracks seem to be a lot of music for such a quick, hard-hitting punk album. The quality throughout is excellent, but perhaps some songs could have been removed without a great reduction in the overall feel. Songs, arguably, go on for a little too long, nearly hitting the four minute mark on two occasions. At any rate, “Chem Trails” remains this reviewer’s favourite song on the album, acting as No Age’s indie anthem for the ages. They certainly saved the best till last on their second major LP, acting as a signal for where No Age may go next.
It’s true that No Age may be becoming more accessible as time goes on. Their next album might make them too ‘normal’ for their own good. But as things stand currently, they have found their healthy balance with Everything in Between: an easier listen than Nouns and their early EPs, but not so much as to alienate their fan-base. In fact, No Age is bound to make quite a few new fans in the wake of the release of this powerful disc.
86%
