No Age is

currently riding high as the darling of the L.A. underground, but it wasn’t so many

months ago that the noise-pop duo felt a sense of victory simply from being able to

release music.

"Our scheme was to release five different EPs, on five different labels, in five

different parts of the world — vinyl-only, of course," singer-guitarist Randy

Randall says. "Could we actually pull that off? We spent all this time designing

record covers, getting things ready, and did it. We thought, ‘This is it. We’ve

infiltrated.’ We go the feeling we slipped in through the back door."

Songs from those EPs were culled to make up No Age’s debut album, "Weirdo

Rippers," which set the blog world abuzz and earned plaudits from Pitchfor

k. Not long afterward, Randall and drummer Dean Spunt were signed to Sub Pop, for

whom they already have five songs recorded for a follow-up album. "That was a

complete surprise," Randall says. "Somebody told us they had heard our music

and seen us live."

What they heard is spastic pop blasted by Randall’s distortion-fed guitar and Spunt’s

punk rhythms and punctuated by fleeting bursts of beauty — gorgeous chord progressions

or melodies that are gone before they have the chance to get stuck in your head.

"Our goal is to write great pop songs like Squeeze or the Ramones, but do it in

a way that makes sense to ourselves," Randall says. "We do have the

avant-garde noise aggression of a Screeching Weasel … but it’s like we only want to

write the good parts. If it goes on too long …"

No Age’s experimental

approach, first heard when Randall and Spunt were members of the band Wives, earned them

a faithful following among the sonically adventurous patrons of the downtown venue the Smell, an all-ages, volunteer-run

room where the volume and — thanks to bands such as Anavan, Health and Abe Vigoda —

the sense of daring are always high.

"It’s a funny thing," Randall

says of having graduated to larger venues, "no place feels too big. It’s like we

always have our friends with us. Wherever we go, we just bring the Smell with

us."

||| No Age opens for Battles on

Tuesday at the Music Box @ Fonda.

||| Download: "My Life’s Alright Without

You."

Photo by Jennifer Clavin

Monday, Oct.

29

Tegan & Sara and Northern State play the Orpheum (it’s

sold out); Queens of the Stone Age play the Nokia (it isn’t). … Castledoor ends its

residency at the Echo, with Frankel and a solo set from Aaron Espinoza (Earlimart)

starting things off. … Oliver Future’s residency closes with warm-up from Steve Barton

& the Oblivion Click. … Aushua’s ends its stand at the Silverlake Lounge with

strong support from In Waves and We Barbarians. … Pop Noir and Maxeen finish up their

co-residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. … And Hazelden and Radars to the Sky

highlight the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room.

Tuesday, Oct.

30

Heavy hitters everywhere: Thurston Moore at the Echo, Regina

Spektor at the Wiltern, Broken Social Scene at the Orpheum, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

at the El Rey … or, if you’re in the mood for something mellow, Chris and Thomas at the Hotel Cafe.