For a while now, No Age has captured the interest of many indie-rock fans with their noisy punk music and notorious live performances. However, the previous full-length releases from this guitar-and-drums duo have consistently fallen short of what the band seems capable of. Randy Randall's tendency to over-rely on distorted feedback and Dean Spunt's less-than-trained singing voice have stifled their previous efforts, although brilliant songs like ""Teen Creeps"" and ""Losing Feeling"" revealed a band full of promise. On Everything in Between, that promise is realized.
The album opens with a one-two punch of great songs, beginning with the gradually building ""Life Prowler."" This is a change-up from past No Age material, with less thud in the drums and less distortion in the guitars. Your speakers won't blow up, but this newfound restraint allows their songwriting to shine through, unmuddled by the lo-fi production that was a mainstay on Weirdo Rippers and Nouns. ""Glitter"" follows suit, with the addition of screeching feedback that doesn't overpower the mix, but remains present providing harmonic accents that give deeper feeling to the choruses.
Any fears of No Age going soft are quickly stifled by the blistering punk rock of ""Fever Dreaming"" and ""Shed and Transcend."" The latter finds Randall using squealing feedback to eerie effect, a ghostly prelude to the thunderous pop gem that emerges from the mist. The former, which clocks in at 3:48, is evidence that No Age have begun to flesh out their material. The sing-along choruses of past No Age albums that almost always receded just as they became hummable repeat here on Everything in Between, allowing for songs that neither overstay their welcome nor leave the listener wanting more.
No Age experiment with their tone more on this record, and these rewarding detours from their familiar sound reflect the depth of their songwriting ability. The mostly acoustic ""Common Heat,"" guitar instrumental ""Katerpillar"" and upright piano-based ""Positive Amputation"" serve to thicken the already lush sound of No Age. The looping pedal employed on this record creates a thick wall of sound best suited to headphone listening, where all the nuances of these multi-layered instruments shine through the haze of feedback. ""Dusted,"" with its numerous electronic tracks and ""Depletion,"" a scorcher that utilizes several layers of electric guitars, particularly benefit from this method of listening.
As always, No Age's vocals are muddled and difficult to understand, which focuses the listener's attention to their hidden melodies in the context of the cacophonous tapestry over which they are smattered. This format is the best fit for Spunt's voice, which is certainly unconventional and at times painfully flat. Not even the best production and guise of feeling can hide the moments when he is off-key, and for some listeners this is the crutch that keeps No Age from being listenable. Despite many melodic songs, there are a few tracks which lag behind the rest and bring the full album listening experience down a few pegs as a result. ""Skinned,"" for example, covers a weak melody with distracting offbeat bit-crunched drums: finding this hook among this track's cacophony is a fool's errand.
""Chemtrails"" finishes the album with a bang, beginning with Spunt and Randall singing call and response followed by what actually sounds like fireworks. The percussive interlude gives way to one last bombastic chorus, and No Age leave us with the message, ""Don't wanna be anything like you."" One would expect nothing less from a band heavily rooted in spastic lo-fi bliss, and these moments of youthful rebellion shine even brighter when scattered among the balancing creative depth of Everything in Between.
