The ghost of the good, early Jesus & Mary Chain records haunts No Age. Nouns, the L.A. guitar and drum duo's first official full-length, kicks the group to a higher level of distinction than just another noisy art-punk band. The fuzzed-out loop of overdrive, distortion and sun-bleached melancholy that opens "Miner" reveals that the album is culled from the same sonic palette as last year's singles compilation Weirdo Rippers. But as a cohesive thought, Nouns is wholly different. "Teen Creeps," "Cappo" and "Ripped Knees" are bursting with passion and giddy enthusiasm. The choice to emphasize melody over clouds of lo-fi scrape and weird song extensions highlights the duo's evolution in progress. There's nothing to overintellectualize here. Nouns is the soundtrack to the people, places and things No Age encountered along the way to realizing its true identity. 5 stars.
