No Age

No Age

No Age became poster bros for the burgeoning DIY scene bred out of L.A. punk club the Smell. Nouns, drummer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall's Sub Pop debut and follow-up to last year's raw comp, Weirdo Rippers, comes packaged with their scene: photos of people (fans), places (clubs), and things (cassette collections). However, for all the loud-fast ethos, the album feels like it's balancing on one leg. The electric surge of opener "Miner," pop-punch of "Teen Creeps," and guitar snap of "Cappo" and "Sleeper Hold" embody the duo's talent for fusing volume and energy into short bursts, but the other half of Nouns takes on the narcotic haze of samples and effects pedals, and Spunt's vocals often drown in the whirlpool. Live, No Age is 10 times more propulsive than anything here, and therein lies their strength, in both legs. (No Age stands tall at Emo's Tuesday, July 1.)