No Age - Nouns
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2008 Ratings: #47 / 806
Year End Rank: #9
User Score
Based on 189 ratings
2008 Rank: #73
Liked by 18 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

92
Pitchfork

No Age follow their 2007 EP compilation, Weirdo Rippers, with an ambitious Sub Pop debut: Nouns is gorgeously thick-- a hazy, delirious expanse that's friendly and warm and, best of all, unpredictable.

92
The Line of Best Fit

Nouns is a triumph. The sound of a band stretching its muscles and pushing themselves to create something fresh, focused and utterly joyful. You’re going to have to go a long way to find a better way of having this much fun, with all your clothes on, in 2008.

91
Consequence of Sound

It will be interesting to see where the band goes from here, but Nouns shows the band is not afraid of taking risks and brings a refreshing new meaning to “experimentation.”

90
XLR8R
Tracks like the Cramps-y “Teen Creeps” and the brilliant rocker “Sleeper Hold” show off this blend of noise and harmony particularly well. This is the punk record you’ve been waiting for.
90
PopMatters

As the 12 songs pass by in 31 minutes, the overall effect is nothing short of exhilarating. While their musical antecedents are clearly apparent, at no stage does Nouns feel in any way derivative or familiar.

90
Tiny Mix Tapes

Nouns sounds as homemade as something released on a Warner Music affiliate could be. It’s crafted with a sense of pleasant haphazardness, gelling into one of those rare situations where everything that is thrown at the wall sticks.

80
SPIN

Nouns evolves gradually, with “Teen Creeps,” “Sleeper Hold,” and “Cappo” adding Superchunky pop riffs to the their relentless punk vigor.

80
Paste
The album switches between grimy rockers (“Here Should Be My Home”) and come-down lullabies (“Things I Did When I Was Dead”) seemingly at random, but the fuzzy haze that hangs over each track holds the record together.
80
AllMusic

Like fellow noise poppers Times New Viking did on their awesome album Rip It Off, No Age turn noise into gold on Nouns.

80
Under the Radar

Nouns may not fully realize all of No Age’s potential, but it’s urgent, frantic, and loud--just like punk rock should be.

80
Alternative Press

Despite these sawed-off edges, Nouns is an extremely accessible album.

80
Uncut

Taken on its own terms ... Nouns is a righteous success: delightfully dazed, good-times punk rock for a new generation of Californian dreamers.

80
Mojo
The reinvention is thrilling to eavesdrop.
80
NOW Magazine
Definitely on the arty end of the post-rock gradient, No Age manage to channel elements of other great bands who have woken up drunk on the lo-fi line between pretty and noisy.
70
NME

Despite No Age’s enforced restrictions, they’ve come up with an album that – in its urgent, accidental variety – is far more exciting than the studied stylistic uniformity of most rock bands’ efforts.

70
Rolling Stone
L.A. may be the center of plastic glamour, but this noise-punk duo prove the city still has a dangerous side.
60
Slant Magazine

The band's live performances, politics, and loyalty to their fanbase are to be admired, but Nouns will leave you wanting more.

60
The Guardian

For all Randall's hairdryer noise and molten texture, they seem to lack killer hooks.

59
Coke Machine Glow

There are songs on Nouns that seemingly defy you to listen, and not because they’re loud or crass or due-heavy on true-dat market-maneuvers and what I guess we can now safely call “aural assault”; and not because of the bad vocals, bunkered mix job, or the hundred and one other things that would make your parents, my professors or Celine Dion hate this album.

58
A.V. Club

Nouns' effect is hazy, numbing, and merely pleasant--quite the opposite of experiencing No Age in person.

SnowyFighter
75

Letters, words, things even

This is an interesting one. No Age’s debut album is one of the most melodic noise rock albums I’ve heard? But then there’s also these super dreamy blissful moments every now and then?? Huh??? It’s cool, but also a litttleeee bit jarring. This is still a good album for sure though overall. Especially with a song like Teen Creeps, which is unbelievably catchy for a noise rock song. Miner, Cappo, Sleeper Hold, and Here Should Be My Home are all ... read more

depechemode4lif
92

Okay what the fuck guys this band is absurdly great on these first two albums and I think I like this album even a little more. By far one of the best noise pop records of the 2000s and the atmosphere they create is so immaculate it’s impossible for me not to love it. Where has this been all my life

miiarcus
78

The memories of playing Skate 3 while blasting Sleeper Hold on my TV at 4AM are all rushing back to me again.

miiarcus
78

The memories of playing Skate 3 while blasting Sleeper Hold on my TV at 4AM are all rushing back to me again.

chemjay300
60

Some of the noise segments are really beautiful but the indie pop dominance of the record made this one kind of a disappointment for me

Dankro
40

what is going on 🔥🔥

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