No Age

After cruising around from city to city in a cramped van filled with instruments, vegan left-overs, and a tall lanky dude named Hisham (supporting act Soft Circle), No Age wound up in Montreal last Saturday, to play Club Lambi.
The venue was filled with sweaty fans who watched the two-piece thrash away with their signature pop-melodies meshed with punk-inspired structures – most songs clocking-in around the two minute mark. The band’s set drew mainly from their last two acclaimed full-length LPs; 2007’s Weirdo Rippers and this year’s Nouns.
No Age fans took a while to loosen up and get the blood flowing – this being a hardcore show after-all, where lame indie-intellectualism and crossed-arm art-interpretations are highly frowned upon. From a band that derives its influence from Paul McCartney and Bad Brains, you’d expect to be puzzled. But their musicianship was lucid and impressive – it was clear No Age was on top of their game.
Band members drummer/lead singer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall originate from Los Angeles, where they are known to champion the DIY scene, all-ages shows, visual arts and vegan lifestyles.
The two guys seemed far too approachable and gentle for a band with such success. “There’s a general perception that we’re nice,” Spunt said over the phone. Before their set at Club Lambi on Saturday, the guys could be seen sitting behind a table hawking their own merch – something not many bands do these days. But whether they’re sitting inches away selling fans a vinyl single at a show, or blogging about their travels, they seem genuinely interested in connecting with their fan-base.
Back in October, during the height of the American presidential campaign, No Age performed on CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. A controversy arose over the Barack Obama T-shirt Randall was wearing during the filming. The network advised the band they could not perform while openly supporting a candidate, in accordance with the Equal Time Rule. In an era where so much art is reactionary to the current political climate, it seemed fair to assume No Age were pushing buttons with intent. Spunt affirms, “I don’t really consider myself or Randy to be political artists, you know? Just the fact that our band was on [the show] – we’re somewhat subversive in a way.” No Age managed to still play the show after the network advised them they couldn’t wear said Obama tee; at the last minute they altered the T-shirt to read “Free Health Care” instead.
Some may think it would have been more “punk” for the two band members to denounce CBS and refuse to play the show sans Obama’s mug proudly displayed on their shirts, but that would have been stupid. No Age managed to take advantage of the network TV exposure, while still remaining politically engaged – something that transcends any punk rock caveats or rock star clichés.
No Age wrapped up their Montreal set with “Everybody’s Down,” from Weirdo Rippers, allowing Spunt to abandon drum-duties and take centre singing the opening bars. Meanwhile, Randall surmounted his amplifier cabinet to then launch himself off during the song’s crescendo. It was aggressive, fun, and the perfect coda to a night of politics and punk rock.