Until a few weeks ago Nottingham’s None Of The Above were just another unknown UK band (pardon my ignorance) who had sent in their latest release to us for review. So you’d forgive me for not paying it too much attention when it dropped through my letterbox at the arse end of last year. Fast forward a couple of months and a series of calamities meant that we needed a band to open proceedings at Punktastic Bash 2 – up stepped NOTA and not only did they fill the vacant space, they did so with aplomb. I got home, dusted down the cd and gave it the listen it deserved.
NOTA sound like Quicksand. NOTA’s vocalist sounds like Geoff from Thursday. These are two bands amazing bands, so it’s no surprise that NOTA aren’t too bad either. However, one big no-no is the crude and highly offensive artwork that decorates the front cover. Sure to win them many enemies over the pond, the front of the sleeve depicts a plane flying towards two tall towers, while the back shows an empty skyline with a crumbled wreckage scattered about the floor. Not done in the best of taste at all, but I think the band have learned their lesson.
On the basis of that it would be easy for some reviewers to immediately discard this record, but you’d be a fool to do so. ‘Them vs Them’ is a fine slice of post-hardcore with some great vocals and nice crunchy/melodic parts. Opening track ‘The Three Rs’ is possibly the highlight of the three songs, fusing the vocal melodies of Thursday with their own sound. Detuned riffs bounce around all over the shop, and a driving bassline carries through the verses. It’s all rather good. ‘Fuzzy Logic’ carries on the good work, again focusing on Mike’s vocal melodies and the variations in bass and guitar parts keep things fresh and exciting. The finale of ‘Not The One’ has perhaps the most delicious melody, even if the repetitive “not the one” refrain does begin to grate after a short while. Still, this is grassroots UK talent well worthy of a listen.
Cover artwork aside, this is rather nice indeed. Check them out live because they’re even more brutal and forceful as all the Punktastic peeps should know. One or two minor alterations will see them among the bigger names in the UK scene if they keep up the good work and a longer length record (as this is only 8 minutes long) will be interesting listening indeed.
www.n-o-t-a.com
Paul