No Age: Everything In Between

At more than 35 minutes long, No Age’s third full-length, Everything In Between, is practically leisurely compared to Nouns and Weirdo Rippers, both of which were too antsy to shred through antic noise-rock for more than half an hour. Those extra seconds are spent integrating the band’s drum-and-guitar combo with the sampler-orchestrated feedback washes that have increasingly informed the duo’s songwriting, instead of just oozing into the spaces not already occupied by giant hooks. And maybe those hooks are a little less undeniable than they have been in the past. As the band spreads out into slightly more experimental corners, like the drowsy Wild Nothing-hum of “Dusted”—written by drummer Dean Spunt without the aid of guitarist Randy Randall, in one of the album’s two solo instrumentals—or the admittedly charming Halo Benders-like indie-rock duet of “Chem Trails,” the urgency that was once available by the amp-full becomes harder to locate. Maybe it’s because nothing here jukes and then breaks into a sprint at the halfway mark like “Eraser” or “Neck Escaper,” or maybe it’s because the album needs more tracks like “Fever Dreaming,” with brain-dead guitars and stuck-pig screaming. Everything In Between can’t help but live up to its title: a solid diversion until the next truly satisfying No Age release.