All muddied up
Many of No Age’s songs sound like a whisked-together emulsion of washed-out lo-fi and California pop-punk slowly drifting apart. The duo’s 2008 LP Nouns was built on this oil-and-water formula; half of the songs sounded like IDM experiments done with a cheap sampler, and the rest drove forward with noisy strumming guitars and pogo-friendly beats, and it was captivating even in its disarray. Everything in Between is not as initially enrapturing as its predecessor, but while the hooks aren’t as sharp, the sonic collage is as rich and satisfying as ever. In the mid-album fuzz-fest “Dusted,” myriad textures of guitar melody waver over a marching drum loop. Album opener “Life Prowler” begins with a kickdrum spitting eighth notes before the guitars and vocals interject: “One time is all I need / To know my job’s complete / And when I reach into / Myself my past comes true.” The statement could be disaffected or stubbornly hopeful: Like their music, No Age piles on meaning in incongruous layers.